Well, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first. Generally I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but with this one I'm really going into a lot of details of the story, so if you want a spoiler-free experience the best I can say is to scroll all the way down, check my last paragraph, where I write my overall thoughts, and see if that interests you or not.


I want you to follow my experience with the first chapters of Saishuu Heiki Kanojo, or Saikano, in the oficial English translation, as I went into it pretty blindly. I knew it was a 2000's manga, and the artstyle really does feel like straight out of late 90s, early 00s manga and that it was written by Shin Takahashi, which I only say because I like acknowledging the author. I assumed that this manga was going to be your normal teenage romantic drama and the first chapter reinforced that idea. In this first chapter we meet our two main characters, Chise and Shuji, as they just started dating and they are really bad at it. At the end of it, they get to know each other a little bit better and they vow that they will learn to love each other, which gives the idea that they don't care about each other just yet, but they both proceed to talk exclusively about the other person for the rest of the manga. But it's on chapter two that the big reveal is done, as our characters are caught in the middle of a bombardment that ruins their town and kills thousands, and in the midst of all this confusion Shuji finds out that Chise isn't just a normal highschool girl, she is a mechanically engineered ULTIMATE WEAPON. This is a reveal so bonkers that I understand if people don't like it, as it does feel that it came completely out of left field when you're reading, but I personally appreciated how bold it was. These two chapters introduce us to the two main themes of this story, the classic teenage romance, and the ambiguous war that creeps into all character's lives. It's a unique and interesting concept, as we see these characters trying their best to have a normal teen life in this bizarre existence, but it's in it's execution that the manga falls apart. The first problem we encounter is the comedy in it. Now, I can excuse a drama focused manga to not have the most funny of jokes, the real problem is on how they are inserted in the middle of the dramatic parts and actually end up ruining the flow of the manga. It doesn't help that a lot of jokes are about how the main duo should have sex. This is something that happens more frequently at the start and thankfully gets better as the story progresses.

But don't let your sighs of relief out just yet, because it's now that the real problems start to appear. These two characters have this ideal role that they both have to abide, as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", and both of them seem to be more focused not on loving each other, but on dating each other. And that's all fine, but suddenly Shinji has basically an affair with a new character, Fuyumi. A married adult that really wants to fuck Shinji despite the big focus that we will have on how she really likes her husband. Admitedly, hey don't have sex, in fact this is the very first example of a character doing a lot of sexual stuff with one of our main characters, but without doing the real thing, which I guess it's supposed to make all of it okay? It's then further excused for both sides because "they are horny". But that doesn't really excuse you. And this is the first example of the biggest problem in the series, a lot of the characters motives, problems and solutions end up revolving around sex. And sex is just TOO much of the focus here.



At certain point our couple decides that this relationship is too much to bear and decide to break up, this ends up exploring two alternative relationships that I think are the highlight of the entire manga. We get to see more of Shuji and, arguably the character he has most chemistry from day one, Akemi, Chise's best friend and also an old friend of Shuji. It's shown that it's with her that Shuji really can be himself, and I have no idea why this is the side romance and not the main one. On Chise's side, we get to focus on her on the warfield, with soldiers, in particular Tetsu, which is actually Fuyumi's husband. It's adorable and sad to see Tetsu and Chise walking around the deserted and destroyed cities, as he tries to save a bit of Chise's innocence in the midst of all of this. In general, the parts of the story that happen in the battlefield and with the soldiers are the most successful of the manga. Sadly these two decently build romances have a pretty horrible climax. And I'm not talking about the that both Akemi and Tetsu both die, I think that's an interesting and logical end to these arcs. No, it's the fact that they both die while thinking of sex. Akemi finally confesses to Shuji and therefore it's Shuji's "duty" to grope her tits and let her grab his dick until she dies. Tetsu dies confusing Chise with his wife, so it's Chise's duty to let him grope her tits until he dies, which would be slightly better executed if it wasn't for the fact that Tetsu had went as far as fingering Chise just a couple chapters before. I felt like that was quite disrespectful for these characters as in the end they were only horny beasts waiting for sex until their last breath. Not that much after we get Fuyumi crying and being super sad about Tetsu, just to try to rape Shuji right after.
It's probably the worst segment of events of the manga, but you know what? It's actually followed by an actual nice "arc". Shuji and Chise decide to run away from people and end up living on a different town, and we get some really nice and touching moments. As the duo live their lives alone, we finally get some moments were the couple does look like a real couple and have nice chemistry, too bad we're already on the second to last volume. Due to circumstances however, Chise needs to return to the army and the city itself is being destroyed, so we actually are back to have them separated.

We only get to meet each other together again near the finally where they finally do what they wanted to do since chapter 1... they fuck each other all night long. At this point, it only makes sense, as sex is the main drive and theme of all the relationships, so to end it finaly by having the two characters have sex with each other, it's thematically coherent. Which doesn't mean I personally enjoyed it.
And then the ending came, which was not the worst, but it led me to some confusion. See, the war that's happening is only ever talked about vaguely, we never know the enemies or reasoning for the war, and for the most part, it really doesn't matter. But at the same time, there's also earthquakes happening over the course of the manga, and sure, we're led to believe that it's because of Chise and her enormous power, but there's also a moment of an earthquake happening while Chise isn't around, which is confusing. So when we finally get the reveal that the world is ending, it makes sense that it's because of Chise. At this point in the narrative we're so used to see the now apocalyptic scenario of Hokkaido that it kinda feels fitting. But here's the thing, Chise, after revealing this, also mentions that there's things happening around the world, things that we never get to learn what they are, but it makes sense to assume that whatever it is is what's causing the end of the world, but then it's implied that it's because of Chise. I dunno if I read the ending wrong, but it was all very confusing, and it was with that note that Saikano reached its end.

It was really hard for me to judge this manga. It had a good premise and it had good ideas, it even has good moments, chapters and I even go as far as say volumes, but for everything that it does right, it also does one thing wrong. The couple and the drama could have been handled better, the comedy as well, but ultimately the nail in the coffin is for sure the fact that every single character is completely horny and we're supposed to accept their sex drive as something that drives the drama in the series. With less focus on that and more focus on the romance, or you know, the war, this manga could have been leagues better than what it ended up being.