Peevish8

~MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS!~
Honestly, I only started reading Koe no Katachi because I started learning sign language. At first, I thought was gonna be a good experience read a manga that have some elements of something I was studying, and I could also be learning something to my studies. The truth is, I discovered this story was more complex, dramatic and more related to myself that I could imagine.

It follows Shouya Ishida, a guy who had been in the position of someone who've made bullying, but also was bullied by the ones who have practiced with him. As he suffered these traumatic things after have bullied a deaf girl (Shouko Nishimiya), he decided to make something to change what he have done in the past after a few years.
The interesting thing here is that the act - bullying itself - wasn't something restricted only to Shouya or Shouko, but also something that followed a lot of characters during the story, and how they share this with the others and try to find the so called peace and happiness, at the same time they try to forget it. But is this actually possible? Traumatic experiences aren't something you can simply forget or "cure" fast or without the help of someone, so the story also brings the many psychological problems the characters acquired during that time.

Talking about the characters, I think you can relate yourself with a lot of them, especially Shouya, the one who was the bully, the bullied and then the forgotten one. He also grew a lot in my opinion during the story, physically and mentally. While that, Shouko seems the strong girl, who at first seems to ignore all the horrendous things the classmates have done to her, but in the end you realize how weak she was all the time - also one of the consequences of someone who suffer from bullying.
Other characters also important to story such as Miki, Naoka, Tomohiro and Satoshi, I'll let you to read and find at your own what you're gonna think of them, since they may cause you different feelings and interpretations, but have in mind that they can also be related a lot.

Continuing about the story, and now talking about Shouko in special, I personally liked how they deal with the fact she's deaf, but in special how the family treated it, it feels very real to me based in the experiences I'm having right now, and I really liked how the author brought this theme in the manga. Had shown the reactions of kids but also adults while seeing someone like her make you have lot of feelings, but at same time make you think what you were gonna do if you were in a situation like theirs, and honestly this is something you can make in various moments in the manga.

Another thing that called my attention was in the last chapters, when they started talking about their future and what they were gonna do after the graduation, I think is very interesting since the characters have passed by some many things at this point, but they still want to be someone productive, someone that can make something for society and for themselves.

Anyways, Koe no Katachi was a very complete manga in my opinion, and I would totally recommend it to someone who likes drama and a story with very real elements; but also for people who are tired from their everyday shounen. It’ll sure make you put yourself in the place of lot of characters and think "what I was gonna do if I was in this situation?", which is also a very interesting thing.

Pretty long but 6000 chapters in I can confidently say this is my favorite manga series. The story excels in many aspects from art to character design, with the intricate layout of the plot acting as a catalyst that propelled this story to its now renowned status. With this manga finally coming to an end, I felt it was important to reflect upon the many memories, be it good or bad, that this story gave me, ultimately becoming a significant part of my life up until this point.

Anyways, um... I bought a whole bunch of shungite rocks, do you know what shungite is? Anybody know what shungite is? No, not Suge Knight, I think he's locked up in prison. I'm talkin' shungite. Anyways, it's a two billion year-old like, rock stone that protects against frequencies and unwanted frequencies that may be traveling in the air. That's my story, I bought a whole bunch of stuff. Put 'em around the la casa. Little pyramids, stuff like that.

Absolutely love it, just wish more would be translated. Every chapter is hilarious, is a shame so few people are reading it. (The website is telling me I need to write a longer review but honestly there isn’t much more to say other that it’s funny, I love it and more chapters need to be translated, I mean I only have 14 chapters to go off of, and there isn’t much of an ongoing, gripping plot, it’s a different story every chapter so there isn’t much to write about it, man it’s still complaining I need to write a longer review, but I have nothing else to write about)
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
Wha-
This is requiem

Storyline: 4/10

This manga focuses on the story of the artist's pet dog. The stories that she shares, while heart warming, are not exactly entertaining. They are the standard pet stories that your aunt probably tells you at your family reunion whilest you sigh and listen only to be polite: Fido sleeps funny, Fido is so brave, Fido is yappy. It isn't that it has the same idea as many other manga out there, it is the fact that it basicly combines all those pet stories you've probably heard over the years into one. If you're a dog lover who cannot get a dog for whatever reason, this might be your manga. However, as I own a dog of my own, I've already seen most of the crazy things dogs do, and nothing in here came as a suprise.

Artwork: 6/10

Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as I could tell. The dog was quite adorable though, especially when the artist drew comparisons of the dog's younger and older selves.

Characters: 5/10

Just your average dog-human relationship: the struggles, the good times, the saddness, the playtimes. It wasn't anything that made me drop the book and yell "WOAH! This is intense!" Then again, I didn't expect some jaw dropping relationship between human and animal anyway.

Worth the Read?: Depends on where you stand in life. If you love dogs, yet cannot get one, this manga might be worth a read as it explains all the little perks (and mishaps) of owning a dog. If you already have a dog, you've probably seen most of what is shown in this manga and you might want to give it a pass.

Additional Comments: The only thing that really made this manga worth reading was the adorable dog, at least to me.

Will make this short.

Story - 7
Art - 6
Character - 7
Enjoyment - 7

Lo-Fi After School which I unironically read with lofi radio playing in the background is a cool collection of 8 short stories ranging from the smallest of plots spanning about 7 pages to some with some deep thought behind them of around 40 pages.

There is no consistency storywise as there are new MCs appearing with every chapter, with a new story to tell each time. As said, some of those stories seem to hold no relevance to deep themes scattered through this story, merely just the actions of teenagers. Some stories are borderline surreal. Some are unironically made for the psychological genre. Despite the mish-mash having no coherence, they are nice short reads with themes such as deities and individual personalities, they don't really try to go further with growth as they are just solo chapters. Other nonsensical chapters feel strange in the mix but nothing in this story really makes any sense once you have a look for it yourself. It's a nice tang, if I must to this depressing atmosphere though. Like that one dude with the hair. He do love him some hair.

Art isn't special, you have probably come across something similar if you have managed to find this manga thrown deep into MAL's database. By all means, it isn't bad, but it isn't anything to remember. It most likely won't have a lasting effect on you. With nothing to show off in addition.

I enjoyed reading this, mainly because of chapter 3, but I still really quite liked this. Universal enjoyment wise, you might have some issues with the random switches in the atmosphere. Though, if you have managed to find this manga with no more than 750 members as of this review, then you are probably some manga completist who will enjoy this, though I would say the same for causal readers too.

Overall - 6.75 (7)

I can't remember if lofi radio made this better, I listen to it too much anyway lol. You can do you with any background sound.

Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin or The Duchess Of The Attic comes from the same minds that brought you the stunningly mediocre “By Spring”. This was a series that I found in a similar vein to “By Spring”. Whilst randomly strolling along the columns of Manga and Mahwa in Mangakalot’s library I stumbled upon a series that like “By Spring'' had some lovely art and a story that piqued my interest. So I gave it a good read. With only 10 current chapters it’s clearly not a completed story, but I would like to throw in my opinions on this Manga.

[~Story~ 5/10]
In similar vein to by spring, the story of Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin is mediocre and is again another generic shoujo manga. It reminds me of a show like Akagami Shirayuki hime (and is similar in quality to it) and Mahoutsukai no Yome. Opal Halloway is the daughter of a count, after being deemed a dangerous woman and labeled as a whore she was cut from many social circles and is then married off to some Duke nearing poverty (as you can see this writer has got a thing for people in poverty). Opal wanting to genuinely help the family is cast aside by her jackass of a husband and all of the equally unlikable staff.

Whenever I read a shoujo/romance Manga i always ask one question, How does this one set itself apart from the competition? In many genres that are filled to the brim with tropes and stereotypes you start to feel like you're watching the same shit over and over again. So when reading a series I find myself asking has this been done before. And with Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin it feels as if I've seen 1000 stories just like it. Like my previous examples Akagami Shirayuki Hime and Mahoutsukai no Yome it’s like i’m watching the same show with a different cast. I understand that it’s hard to be original, but there are plenty of new series that have original ideas and concepts, for example Kubo-san wa Mob wo Yurusanai. However this could all be forgiven, if the story was any good, there are plenty of shows that aren’t terribly original yet manage to be amazingly good. However Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin seems to be going down a similar root as “By Spring” it feels like it’s being rushed, we are only 11 chapters in and there are still more to come yet it seems as though this series is already hitting a wall. 11 chapters in and it feels like the climax has already happened, whilst i am interested in where this story goes, how well it progresses is a different story.

[~Art~ 8/10]
Like before the art is pretty great, it’s not amazing but it’s certainly very well drawn, the artist for this series (Mori) is certainly a very talented artist. The characters all look very pretty and the scenery all looks very nice, the outfits and designs all look very period authentic and if anything this manga has going for it is that it looks nice. So again, very well done Mangaka.

[~Characters~ 5/10]
The Characters are definitely a step up from “By spring”. In “By Spring” I mentioned that i couldn’t sympathise with the characters because they consistently made poor decisions, like they were in an episode of Hanna Barbera’s Scooby Doo, but the main character is a competent and a pretty well written character, while she reminds me of Shirayuki from Akagami Shirayuki Hime, she is leagues above her in storytelling, Opal doesn't feel like a mary sue, while Shirayuki feels like one because she is a goddess loved by all and everyone, Opal is a hated character but remains sweet and kind, aside from being pure waifu material, she has some great character moments and this is in large part due to how shit the rest of the characters are. When i say shit i mean both i hate them as people and poorly written. At this point the Duke and all of his lackeys are basically 1 dimensional villains, like Dio from JJBA or that stupid fucker with the long hair from Kabaneri and the Iron fortress. However the Duke is 100000x more ignorant, stupid and outirght retarded, he feels like a side villian who is used to demonstrate the power of the protagonist in some Shonen manga. And there are 2 reasons why this character is eons better than say a character like Takasaki from “By Spring”, this is because it feels like he is intended to be the villain of this story, unlike Takasaki. And the second reason for much less desirable reasons, he’s really fun to shit on. All the best moments in this story are because he is stupid and he gets fucking owned by Opal. On one hand i really want to see him grow and develop as a character and on the other hand i want him to stay as a punching bag. But that's more personal, i find it very satisfying to have his stupid smug wiped off his fucking face. However it would be nice to see him develop further. As for the rest of the characters I'll speed through them, all of the Dukes lackeys except for this dedicated bottom are all 1 note “haha i am bad” characters who seem to hate Opal for really no reason. All of Opals' lackeys are nice kind people who do no wrong, unless it’s because of the Duke, then they go ape shit. They’re really generic and it would be great to write more about them, but honestly what can you write when they basically have no personality.

TL;DR / Summary
Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin is a generic manga written for a generic fanbase but satiates my thirst for beating on poor Rich kids. A great improvement from “by spring” yet still feeling that this author can do more with their storytelling. Excited to see how this story continues.

[~Overall/Enjoyment~ 6/10]
Fun, generic and a bit stupid, give it a read and do keep in mind this review is based off the first 10 or so chapters of the manga, so for now, take it with a grain of salt but heres my 2 cents on the story and that about wraps it up.

tl;dr: A manga without any sort of plot but a very strong and consistent level of humor and art. 

This is a manga that relies entirely on it's art and humor. The main cast of characters is interesting and likable due to how amusing they are, and a few of the side characters you see a bit of are decent enough as well for the same reasons. But there really isn't any character development, relationship development, or plot at all, large or small scale.

Rather, the manga is just a series of really short amusing skits, mostly around 10 pages. Thankfully, these are all really amusing with great comedy and in general a really humorous tone and atmosphere, though one that's also generally pretty ecchi in nature. This is enhanced by the art being really good at visual comedy with lots of exaggerated expressions and such. However, even beyond that the art in general is excellent with a great style and quality with great framing resulting in lots of great panels and just in general flowing really well.

What's most disappointing about this manga is how it was axed as it felt like it could have kept up the solid level of quality for quite a while yet. The ending itself is kind of strange, in that because there was no plot there wasn't really any sort of plot to end but there's an attempt at giving it a solid ending anyway. Though I wouldn't go as far as saying the manga succeeded in that it probably was the best way to end it on short notice considering the context, wherein despite the manga not having any sort of plot at all, it still managed to invoke some level of emotional reaction from me. 

The one big flaw this manga suffers from... is the romance.

As a sportsmanga it is pretty straight forward and cool. The author doesn't waste any time explaining the rules of the game and throws you right into it. It might be a tad intimidating if you never followed a baseball game before, but slowly you'll get accustomed to the positions and terms of the game. Which I actually enjoyed about Natsuzora and Run. The artstyle is dynamic in game scenes and those games can become really tense.
Another enjoyable thing is the MC: Chiaki is not bad at baseball, but he's also no prodigy. He's just a passionate guy living for the game. So there's a lot more leeway for the story and games to develop, instead of having everything depend on one single player. Which this manga manages in a lovely manner: It is all about the team. Even the sidecharacters have their own quirks and add something to the team.

So yes, as a sports manga Natsuzora and Run can be recommended. As a romance manga... well...

This might get a teeny tiny bit *spoilery*, so read at your own risk.

The "romance" takes up quite a big chunk of the story. But calling it "romance" might be exagerrated, because all there is, is a constant back and forth between the MC and the other person in question. The status quo shifts every other chapter into one of the two directions, and it feels like a bit of a waste having this nonsense going on for so long. There's not much to gain from it in terms of character development - it's more or less just there.

Yet, I still recommend Natsuzora and Run, and if it's just for the baseball action. The rest *can* be tolerated, since there's some lovely sidecharacters making up for that.

I've been reading this manga for years, and it started off with some potential. Over time though, it went downhill.

The manga started off as an edgy magical girl series about Asagiri Aya and and how unfortunate she was. It continues with her journey of learning about the magical stick and learning more about the magical girl site. Once they introduced the tempest, it was interesting, but the interest faded away through out the years because the idea of the tempest was introduced so early in the series, but it wasn't a plot until the end.

The amount of characters through out the series is insane. I couldn't keep up with the characters, especially in the end of the series. Though the manga had new chapters weekly, it felt like it took forever to convey the message.

The ending was one of the worst I've ever read. It just felt so rushed and made little sense. The actions the characters took was not explained well and made me confused every week.

Overall, I would not recommend this, especially if you're looking for something with a good story.

Honestly, I just gave it 7s on everything. This was my first one-shot that I ever read and I was a bit disapionted with it.

story-I thought that the story line sounded so good but i wasn't as spectacular as I thought. It starts of with a begoning that really does catch your attention. She wakes up and has this misterious red string attatched to her. Like I said it really did have a good start. When she finally finds out what the string it attactched to, i was like yeah this will be a great oneshot! But it really went downhill from there. After that it felt like it jumped around to much, it felt like it all was happening to fast and it was all so sudden. But I will admit, I sort of liked the ending.It had a bit of an interesting twist, like it was almost slightly different then what you expected

art-I liked the art. It was a bit different then normal art. I read in a different review that it was the Korean style so thats why it was slightly different. I havd never seen that before but it made the manga look realistic. I personally still prefer the japanese style of art but it was cool to see something different.

character- i liked the characters i only sort of liked. with most mangas I read I find something about the characters I don't like. I thought They were a bit dull. It's not that they were emotionless but not a wide range of expression was shown. She never really looked into where the string had come from and if it would be there for ever of if it could be removed. She simply accepted the situation. The person she was attatched to just did the exact same. There was no fighting back or anything, it was like they implied that they were defeated imediatly.

enjoyment- I think I have made It fairly clear that this manga had it pro's and con's but overall it was alright and if you need something to pss the time this is a quick read and to some extent, enjoyable. Although it was slightly unoriginal, it had its intresting parts that kept you reading.