jcrayz11

I was never really into manga as much as anime, more times than not anime is usually more exciting than manga. As I grew older, I found myself falling in love with the comics and their stories. There is something about Seinen manga that is either a hit or miss. Either, they are fake deep, or real deep. Examples of Manga that actually are deep are Oyasumi Punpun, Berserk, Shingeki no Kyojin, or Monster. Vagabond easily falls into this category, except it offers something more.

Vagabond is a slight fictional approach to the story of Miyamoto Musashi, one of the greatest Samurai of all history. For those who know of great Samurai, he arguably is held with names like Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, and Minamoto no Yoritomo to point out a few. So, this story is a samurai story. Battles, plots, scandals, and fantastic art are all included. This is not why I fell in love with this manga however, and if you look at it from only the surface you do not fully appreciate or understand why it is a 10.

Vagabond explores some major philosophical ideas. What does it mean to be “The Greatest Under the Heavens,” or “The Way of the Sword,” or “The Way of the Samurai.” What is a Samurai when there is no war? What is their purpose? Vagabond proposes all of these ideas in a way where it is complex, yet not confusing. The gorgeous art, masterfully crafted story, and beautifully written characters help to express the struggle a 1600’s Samurai experienced during peacetime.

I would NOT recommend this manga to those just getting into the medium. If you have never read a Seinen manga, I would start out with some classics (Ex. Berserk). Vagabond is a manga for my more seasoned readers. It presents deep ideas, and provides a lense into a crucial part of Japanese culture, Bushido. The art is phenomenal, the pacing is perfect, the characters feel real, and it represents who Miyamoto Musashi was, and the dilemma of samurai during this time period.

To simply say this manga is a masterpiece is cutting it short, but that is what it is. A 10. I hope you read it too and experience the magic for yourself.

For people who like a good story with a strong female protagonist, who doesn't start crying every time something bad happens, is this a perfect manga. It's a historical and romantic manga with comedy, action and fantasy... the ideal story!

Yona is a cute, young princess, who wants to take revenge on her nephew for killing her father and taking the throne. So she runs away with her bodyguard to look for help, no need to look far for the romance ^_^

The manga is still on-going and the reason why I open my eyes each morning is to check if there is a new chapter, it realy got me hooked.

The story is really worth reading!

This one is for the lovers of slow burn.

Achira Kochira Bokura tells the story of two classmates with very different personalities (one introverted and shy, other extroverted and charismatic) who befriend each other against the odds. As a slice of life, there's not a lot going on in terms of plot, focusing mainly on their school life, their struggles with university entrance exams, their relationship with other classmates and above all it shows how the relationship between the two main characters slowly grows and changes and how they change with it. The romance and character development are subtle but very present, and it feels like they develop very naturally.

Since this is technically a seinen and not a BL (although the mangaka has written BL mangas and in English it's published on a BL platform), the romance is more subdued than in the typical BL, and it avoids many BL tropes, so if you're looking for a manga with mlm romance but that's not BL, this is a good one to try.

It's a realistic and sweet story that was really enjoyable to read, and I think it's very relatable to anyone who has found themselves developing romantic feelings for a friend.

I have only read the first story in this manga, so my review is going to be about the first two chapters.

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Suzu Mochida is in love with the older son of the Shuichi family, for whom she and her mother work as housekeepers. Shinji, the younger son, does in turn love her. The typical love triangle story.
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This story is the perfect example of how far events can be rushed in a story. The first chapter introduces the characters, although we don't really get to know much about them, and establishes the chart of relationships among them. Then, there is a gap in the story, and the second chapter brings us to a couple of years later. Everything has changed due to an accident sufferd by one of the protagonists.

I really have nothing against the gaps of time in the story "per se"... it emphasizes the change of atmosphere in the house. But there are many things that are left unexplained. We never get to know what happened really, and why the characters react as they do to the new situation. That could have been shown in a flashback, for example. Everything in the story is shown superficially, there is no depth whatsoever.

The ending is also forced and extremely rushed. I'm not going to tell how the story follows or ends, but the author obviously needed to end it fast. And how do you think it was done? With another gap of time, we jump into the future again. As I said before, jumps in time are ok in a story, but not if you are going to use them to "avoid" telling the story.

The art is ok, but it does not make up for the bad story.

Comedy is hard to really review and rate because, really, it all comes down to a simple question: is it funny or not? Saying anything beyond that is like masturbatory self-aggrandizement for the reviewer, an excuse to blather on without point or purpose.

So, Unbalance School Life centers on MC Shinya, who arrives to school one month late to find that all the other guys were turned into women by a plot contrivance. As the only man on campus, he has to try and keep it in his pants as he struggles to keep up in class.

The set-up is more or less just an excuse for the wacky shenanigans that follow, but the shenanigans are sufficiently wacky. There’s not much in the way of forward-driving plot, but as a vehicle for jokes and humorous situations, it works. A healthy portion of those jokes are going to revolve around accidental gropings (according to Japan, boobs are more felt than my rug), but there is genuine humor here, too, thank God. I got quite a few sensible chuckles and even a hearty guffaw here and there.

Part of what sells the humor is the MC. Never doubt the power of an MC to make or break a premise, and nothing can kill any sense of fun or excitement faster than a boring, stick-in-the-mud dead fish doormat of a protagonist. Luckily, Shinya, our main character here, is a complete dick, and I love him for it. He’s a man of simple wants and little patience or capability for tact, and it’s great. More characters should be unrepentant dicks. It just works.

Now, the rest of the cast is pretty standard for a story like this (including “the flat-chested one” everyone’s favorite apparent character archetype), and most are forgettable, but this is the sort of comedy where one-note personalities are more forgivable. As tools for setting up jokes and good lines, they do the job just fine.

The art is also actually surprisingly well done. Don’t expect Murata-style layers of detail and depth, but it gets all the basics right enough to be pleasing to the eye. Unlike “Shishunki Bitter Change” there are backgrounds and variations in panel layouts and my God I didn’t know how much I missed them. The characters themselves look pretty standard, which can make it a problem when it comes time to distinguish between them (How many black-haired generic manga school girls can a man be reasonably expected to keep track of?), but maybe I’m just racist. Also, we get full on nudity, nips and all, out of nowhere. It feels kind of sudden, but I have to commend the artist for drawing so skillfully with just one hand above the table.

There’s not a whole to this under the surface; what you see is what you get. If you’re looking for drama or introspection, you may get some literal navel-gazing, but little else. The beginning is a little muddled with character introductions and set-up, the romance element seems rather perfunctory, and it takes 8 or so chapters before we get the actual backstory, but these are relatively minor sins when you're having a good time. With Chapter 15, it looks like the story is going in a radically different direction, so who knows what that will bring. I'm compelled to keep reading, at least.

Unbalance School Life is breezy, it’s humorous, and it includes the line, “This isn’t slutty! This is avant-garde sexy!” There’s worse ways to spend an hour or two. Go in with the right expectations and you’ll have a grand old time.

TL;DR: It is funny.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke.

(First of all, let me start by saying that no, this is not a One-Shot. This is a full volume, but it's not available, at least not on the internet. I had the chance to buy a physical copy in Spanish)

Heroes is a bit of a departure from Inio Asano's regular style. It's definitely as dark and cynical as his previous works, but it's way more sardonically comic than anything I've read from him, while also being pretty cartoonish. Even more so than Dead Dead Demons.
In that vein, I assume this might be one of his most alienating works (or will be when more people get to read it), but the themes he deals with are not new. They're basically the same as in Dead Dead Demons. How people will always unite against a common enemy, often not even stopping for a second to ask themselves if what they're doing is actually right.
After finishing it, all I could think of was that quote by Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". Sounds good on paper. Even necessary to know. But Asano knows the hypocrisy in which people can fall, sometimes even unbeknownst to themselves. With this work, is like Asano was asking his audience "What makes you think you have the wisdom to tell Good and Evil apart?"

It starts as this silly story about a bunch of misfit Heroes, fighting against "Darkness". The first half is basically episodic in nature, where they defeat Darkness but it always comes back somehow. At some point, someone says "Even if we defeat darkness, as long as people start taking sides, there will always be someone to hate". And it just goes to show the cynical view Asano has of this era of opinionated people, who never get to any agreements, but somehow always have something to say. The fact that some parts feel like a meme makes this manga feel even more current (just as Dead Dead Demons).

On the whole, it's a pretty bizarre and darkly funny manga that nonetheless manages to tackle heavy and current themes on morality. I kind of wish it was a bit longer, though. And the comedy at the beginning almost makes the darker implications at the end feel too depressing. But I wouldn't have it any other way with Asano.

I'm going to end this review with another quote by Burke, just because I feel it really connects with the themes present in Heroes:

"Whilst men are linked together, they easily and speedily communicate the alarm of any evil design. They are enabled to fathom it with common counsel, and to oppose it with united strength. Whereas, when they lie dispersed, without concert, order, or discipline, communication is uncertain, counsel difficult, and resistance impracticable. Where men are not acquainted with each other’s principles, nor experienced in each other’s talents, nor at all practised in their mutual habitudes and dispositions by joint efforts in business; no personal confidence, no friendship, no common interest, subsisting among them; it is evidently impossible that they can act a public part with uniformity, perseverance, or efficacy.[...]. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

Sooooo, this was kinda dumb... so why did I enjoy it so much?!

Parallel Paradise centers around Tada Youta who get's isekaied into a fantasy world solely populated by girls were his mission is to defeat the local Demon King equivalent and bang just about everyone he comes across. If this sounds familiar to you, congrats, get yourself a treat!
Yes, the premis is about as bog-standard as it get's with these stories. It's in its execution were Parallel Paradise becomes more than the initial sum of its parts would lead you to believe... a little bit more at least.

First things first: This Manga contains a lot of sex! Gratuitous amounts of sex!! Entire chapters comprised of nothing but sex!!! This has two major consequences. The first one is of course that people who don't like smut in their Manga really don't need to bother with this one. You guys won't find much enjoyment here.
But even the rest of us still have to content with considerably slow pacing thanks to this. The whole thing can feel like trudging through molasses at times.
At first this was a major annoyance for me. I got somewhat frustrated when, in the middle of a quest, Youta had to fuck yet another girl for a dozen or so pages, when the story could have easily done with just two or three.

Befor long however, I started seeing the appeal. Not the intended one mind you. While it's pretty hardcore for an ecchi manga, it never crosses into hard R territory and as such isn't really suited to get your rocks off. The sheer gratuitousness however becomes quite comedic after a while. I'm not sure what's so funny about scores of girls becomming top-down fountains at the mere touch of a man, but it got me laughing every time and soon this became one of the most enjoyable aspects of the Manga.

Our Protagonist is the other part that elevates Parallel Paradise above it's mediocre premise. Far from being overly whimpy or a perfect goody toe shoes, yet not a villain either, Youta manages to strike a good balance between obnoxiously good or evil, making him quite relatable. While at first naturally perplexed by the situation he finds himself in, he soon starts to act like you'd expect a decent portion of 18year old guys would if beautiful girls started going crazy over them by the truckload; He gets cocky and dickish. He toys with the girls and properly pushes the line to see with how much he can get away with.
This usually only lasts for a few moments though and if one of his partners voices anger with that attitude he recognizes the line he overstepped and apologizes. He also tries to pull his weight whenever he can and when tragedy strikes he gets visibly upset and takes the initiative to find a solution. Overall a good guy, but not boringly perfect.

The remaining elements of this Manga are decent but nothing special. The art is good enough and consistetly so. The girls do fall into some established norms, but have enough unique characteristics to not feel flat. And while this is ultimately a huge wishfullfillment story, Youta has enough flaws and troubles for that aspect to not become annoying.

Last thing worth mentioning are the numerous mysteries set up until this point. So many infact that I became worried about how much the author really thought them through and wether or not they could have satisfiying conclusions. However seeing that Okamoto Lynn is an established Mangaka with multiple acclaimed stories under his belt I have faith that all of them will be neatly resolved and am eager to find out were they and the story at large lead.


7/10

Usually when I come across a manga like that I don't even bother myself with adding it to my MAL. This time is different, as I feel my responsibility as a human being is to warn anyone thinking about reading this thing, not to do so.

The main problem of the manga is the storyline. It feels as the author didn't have a firm grip of the plot, thus during 7 chapters she tried different approaches to the story which all failed. For example, there are two chapters copycatting Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihnge which are just painful to read. One is Ouran High School Host Club in not the best of its times. The ending is just a baffling drama where it's impossible to have investment in it. What emerges from that jumble are poor characters, many of them not properly introduced (their names aren't even mentioned) and superficial character development. The MC is plainly awful and her only trait is being utterly stupid. She works as a manager yet her decisions are so obviously bad I would do better than her and I know nothing about business.

All of that sums up in no enjoyment of reading and art doesn't help. The number of backgrounds is limited and characters look bad even though they are supposed to be bishounens. Mind you, the very first time we see the main guy one of his ears is normal, the second is prominent.

The only virtue of this title is its shortness. With seven chapters, it's possible to finish this in an hour. However if you are so bored you want to read it, do some sit-ups or go for a walk instead. That's a way better option than reading this nightmare.

TL;DR: This manga is pure bullshiz.
*Warning; Might contain minor spoilers.*

While I truly enjoy shoujo manga, I also truly despise them. First things first, STAY AWAY FROM THIS SHIZ. The story was all good from the very first pages (not chapters but PAGES). The heroine transferring to another school and her best childhood friend whom she got to meet again after 5 years or so. It was all good until she said "I will definitely have a boyfriend in my new school." That's not how she exactly said it, but the fact that she'll hunt a boyfriend in her new school sounds friggin' stupid and nonsense. I mean... does she not plan to study at all or something? Also, the romance here is definitely not gonna deserve any audience. I'm so tired of this love triangle of a childhood friend who already likes the heroine since before her mother even give birth to her or whatnot and the heroine who falls in love with a literal fckboi. Aside from being over-cliche and far fetched, this manga is way more than what I can call atrocious. Just by reading the first chapter, you could already guess the rest of the story. It's definitely wildly unreasonable and ridiculous in so many levels.

The art is the only decent in this manga. The characters are truly portrayed on how they should look. From sassy to trashy.

The characters are all utterly absurd. The heroine is the most hateful among all the characters. She has no common sense and you could actually find all the signs that she's a scatterbrained. Her childhood friend is also stupid it's getting actually hilarious. Also the other bad boy delinquent who loves to sweet talk to catch b*ches. Every typical shoujo manga will never miss adding playboys, playboy delinquents, rich playboys and other sort of playboys on the line.

Enjoyment... I didn't actually enjoy it, seriously. You could imagine me glaring at my computer screen while enduring to finish at least the first chapter just by scrolling and not reading it at all.

Lastly, I wouldn't rate it at all, but I really need to voice out my opinion. I won't say that someone should read this manga so that I could prove myself right. NO, MATE. Don't read it all. Well, if you really want, good luck. Thanks for reading my review!

The art in "Koukando ga Agaranai" was great, the characters were cute, the manga had the potential to be a great isekai period romcom manga. Sadly, it fell short.

My review contains spoilers so read at your own risk:

I personally didn't feel the "love". It felt kinda forced and the ending was rushed and a tad disappointing.

The manga had a nice initial premise, a typical isekai where a Japanese girl dies and resurrects as "Licca" into a historical/european alternative world.
Her goal was simple; to make mysterious adopted boy-kun (that her parents took under their wing) to like her. Because he seemingly had below-zero level of affection towards her. Which made her cling to him, which consequently made them spend most of their time together. As a result, the boy starts developping feelings for the main girl. However, she only perceived him as a "lil brother" that seemingly disliked her.

Obviously, as most romcom plots, the main boy falls for the main girl. However, protag-nee-san did not return fake-ototo-kun's feelings.
Simply put, her love and his love, were different. He saw her as a woman, while she saw him as a lil brother figure.

What i disliked about this manga is that it had a lot of potential to bring about a cute, funny, interesting story with a goal, a moderate challenge, and a satisfying ending.

The boy could have really had 0 interest in her, and we could have had a story where she tries to win him over as they learn to love, bond & understand each other over time.

Instead, it turned into siscon boy is too proud and scared to confess to the heroine. While she wants him to love her but is not able to process the idea that he could love her, nor can she genuinely love him as a "man", instead of going nonchalantly with the flow.
So, we ended up with an abrupt and rushed ending, about a one-way romance that is forced down our throats because it had to end on a positive note. In which we do not even care if the characters end up together or not, because their "love story" has no substance.