Les critiques de livres

Ivvy13
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
So what happens when you tell the Japanese equivalent of George Orwell to write a superhero story?

I don't think its so hidden anymore that Japan is not a particularly happy place or a particularly fun country to be in relative to other countries, at least if you've been up with some contemporary sources. Inio Asano depicted the stifling loneliness, dirt and all encompassing mundanity of a progressive hierarchical Japanese society. The Gekiga movement struck out against the post-war depression and the annihilation of any moral center other than reckless hedonism. Of all the manga out there Sanctuary is probably the most likely precursor to Akumetsu, also being about individuals trying to break down a suffocating system of affairs.

Akumetsu is completely rooted in the workings and machinations of Japanese politics. Its American equivalent would be something like Taxi Driver mixed with The Avengers. It is relentless in its goal of damning every level of Japanese government, making use of a large array of sources and contemporary (at least at the time) Japanese woes and political dirt to sling at the faces of Diet members. It also has by far one of the most true and blue, and yet also the most interesting, invincible 'Mary-Sue' heroes of all time.

Of course everything I just mentioned above may cause a whole load of problems for any outsider of Japanese politics. To anyone who is not deeply entrenched in the affairs, Akumetsu seems like satirical adolescent masturbation. It seems like the purely self-absorbed power fantasy of a person who seems adamant to prevent any empathy from being projected onto the opposition at all. And the thing is that Akumetsu doesn't really laugh it off in a South Park sort of style but is really honestly concerned about all of the issues on the table. There is a parodistic hint but it never actually tries to go all the way to undermine the honesty of its content (even in the most craziest Sci-Fi moments). This means that Akumetsu is pretty much 162 chapters of pure unadulterated Japanese anger towards the state.

The whole idea of satire and caricature is to turn the world and its affairs grotesque, and in doing so maybe we'll be able to get a glimpse of truth through confronting the ridiculousness of things. Akumetsu does caricature, but in a move that is probably contrary to most Western satirical tactics, it drives itself in to take the hard moral stand. While plenty out there have the decency to laugh at the offender, they never step in to preach their own doctrine, because generally the satirist already knows that the world is too ridiculous to ever be condensed into any form of viable doctrine. Akumetsu is keen on showing us that all of the Villainy committed by the corrupted Diet members in Japan should be 'rightfully' punished with the highest penalty: Execution.

Because actually all the characters and the whole plot is merely a flimsy vehicle for this unmitigated rage. And there are even some serious logical leaps in the philosophy (the main one being the whole 'kamikaze Buddhist influenced assassination', which is completely undermined by the sci-fi premise that invalidates it altogether).

Yet, there is just something necessary about works like Akumetsu.

Because there really are political systems and hierarchies so stifling and governments with such rooted mindsets that they disallow for anything contrary. Because there really are moments when the individual, within such a system, feels like he cannot even move due to the crushing weight of everything all around him. Some societies, especially those based on Eastern Confucian style meritocracy, are rife with pent up repressed anger that has to be released somehow. This idea of freedom as the maneuverability of the soul, around the obstacles and pressures stifling the self, is the key idea of people like the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo, or people like the Situationists and the Peace movement against Vietnam, and the writings or Orwell and Huxley, and the thousands of struggling artists and writers under the Wall in China. This is why the ones who truly understand freedom are those who've been through its shattering. When, even with discontent, a person can still flit freely within a society, he has no memory of the loss of flight. He cannot ever actualize the true gravity of the injustice against freedom.

Because the rattle of an AK-47 into the bodies of a couple of cartoonists in some newspaper company was not 'a valid reaction to a joke gone too far' but a great tragedy that was committed by people with such closed minds that they could not see another human being as anything but a living caricature of his own misplaced fantasies. And yet this Tragedy, no matter how many people claim to understand the gravity of the loss, could never be actualized to anyone who has not understood the severity of events such as the May 1968 riots or who have never had their voice taken away by so great a system before, and who have never felt the true gravity of being unable to speak, or even laugh, at a thing out of place.

Because whoever who hasn't known before, can never understand, no matter what.
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iTofuu6
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
Right off the bat I will say this manga is extremely similar to two others of note, number 1 Death Note and number 2 Sanctuary. Akumetsu is at its core, a vigilante story starring the protagonist Shou, and his somewhat superhuman exploits. Shou wants to change Japan for the better, and does this with a series of assassinations against politicians and the like who he deems within reasonable thought that they are corrupt, but outside the normal law. Sounds in theory similar to Death Note in the assassination aspect, and Sanctuary in the reform part, but in my opinion Akumetsu is better than both. To start off I like the main character Shou, who is a shit eater to his very core, always smiling in seemingly ever horrible situation only for the audience to find everything going to plan (most of the time.) Maybe I am just naturally inclined to like the trouble maker protagonists, although Shou is not an immature character, in fact he takes his job very seriously. So serious and entrenched in his personal justice that he will literally DIE for it..... somewhat literally.

Beyond Shou there are some other characters, most notably the fictional Prime Minister of Japan. Besides that there arent alot of recurring characters, but there are a few. Akumetsu always has an audience though so it is not quite like he stares his enemy down and tries to morally break them in a 1v1 converation, there are always other characters around. Recurring characters are found in flashbacks as well. However, Shou is absolutely the star of the show, and he is just a really fun character, everything he does is interesting. If you are a thinker reader, you might find yourself questioning the validity of Shou's justice and logic, rest assured the author was prepared for this, or rather Shou himself was prepared for this. While Shou may seem like your typical Machivillineastic excuse me spelling, character a la Light Yagami, this isn't quite true. I wouldn't be fooled by the smirk, to put it simply.

Shou drives the entire story of course, this is not a saga following a plethora of perspectives, its definitely Shou's story and he is at the center of everything one way or another. The story is, basically, his long attempt to reform Japan in a bloody way. The chapters are heavily driven by dialogue, in fact Akumetsu has more words per page on the high actions pages than I have ever seen on a manga, sometimes something like 70 words on a page, you can see the translators need to use a narrow bold font to make up for this. There is some sarcastic banter on Shou's side, but during his engagements it usually involves him revealing the very, very extensive crimes of his targets. He doesn't mince words, but he also makes sure his speech is never under 1000 words, HOWEVER, its not a bore by any means. In fact, since the political crimes of his targets are usually very realistic in nature, it is interesting just by it's factual accordance, or rather its attempt at looking like a factual accordance. It's always interesting to hear what Shou, or Akumetsu, has to say, and what bizarre and corrupt crimes his target really did. He doesn't choose his target without a reason for sure. Moving on from his explanations, the presentation of his explanations are always absolutely absurd and entertaining, I thought every single one was awesome. There is always some ridiculous infestation of the host building he is doing this in, whether in the form of him hiding himself in a funeral casket, or bombs wired to windows for dramatic effect. There's a reason he is capable of all of this though. There is also alot of action in Akumetsu though, particularly toward the end where things get a little closer to warfare. In the beginning Shou is unstoppable and it is hard not to have fun on the ride. To pull it off to such a degree without going into the territory of thoughtless entertainment, which Akumetsu obviously is not, is a feat of sort. Good fun.

Art is nice in Akumetsu. Nothing out of the world but you even the most fervent manga art critics can't find a substantial issue here. The scenes are creative in what I would call, "scene choreography" and you will find your epic and overwhelmingly cool spreads here as well, which most manga of note have at least a few as well.
One last thing I want to mention is that this manga is pretty funny at times too, the nature of Akumetsu's exploits in detaining and executing his targets are intentionally absurd and over the top. And although there is no breaking of the laws of physics etc, this manga is fiction, albeit realistic fiction. There are also a frequent amount of references to Tezuka era anime/manga.

All in all, one of my absolute favorites, I am really glad I read it. If it means anything its a top 5 for me. Definitely give it a try if you are interested in it.
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washington-rain3
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
I started off really liking this manga and as it progressed, it became a little stagnant. It can become a little boring towards the middle as some of the mini-stories can be repetitive. But, I always feel the ending can either make or break something and in this case, it DEFINITELY made the manga.. Those who have not stuck to the end don't deserve to rate the manga. The final chapters leading up to the end were so dramatic and tense. Although the end was rather abrupt, I felt it was satisfactory as a conclusion that left little loose strings and was impactful. That being said, the story is far from perfect and there are some characters that were introduced then shoved aside without much development (eg. the girl that shou may have liked in the beginning chapters). Now for he actual breakdown of each of the categories:

art: 9/10
The art style is stylized and expressive. It conveys the emotions of the characters quite well and is rather good at causing moments of extreme epicness. The artist did a good job in expressing the ugliness of the "evil" through his drawings. I felt a true sense of disgust every time I looked at them. While the literal interpretation that evil is ugly might be over powering in other manga, it works well in this story where evil is shown to be so oppressive and overwhelming. Though, the art isn't especially impressive and detailed, it is well drawn and creative in how showing how the story is told.

story: 8/10
The story was rather simple and straightforward but had depth at the same time. It did not try to convince the reader that what the "hero" was doing was undeniably right. The actions of Akumetsu are questionable at best and downright immoral at worst. Though there was a "good" side and "bad" side, the story gave the reader room to ponder the actions of the akumetsu. It allowed us to understand nothing is inherently evil, but will undoubtedly become corrupted with time. There some flaws and issues that I could pick out throughout manga but non that are big enough that would ruin the manga. As I mentioned before, the ending though abrupt was good enough to give a feeling of completion. The story understands that there is no end all solution for "evil" and I'm glad that they didn't pull out some bullshit method to end all evil (I'm looking at you Code Geass R2).

character(s): 7/10
I felt this was the weakest part of the manga. Aside from the main character, the side characters get little if any development. They felt quite two-dimensional and they all lacked personality. An exception might be Katsuragi. Although he character wasn't even alive during the timeline of the manga, the chapters dedicated to him really fleshed out his character as well as the reason for Akumetsu's actions. I actually felt sorry that he had to die. Putting secondary characters aside, the main character was quite delightful and unique to learn about in the story. The reason I'm still giving this section a good rating is because the manga is supposed to be focused on the point of view of Akumetsu as a man that tries to take on evil by himself. The problem is when he begins relying on the power of the side characters in the end. Without much development of the secondary characters, their collaboration felt somewhat hollow. That being said, the finale was still nothing short of gratifying.
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Bikou4
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
Hidden gems : search for the lost treasures #1: Akumetsu

In the "normal world", people do not know about mangas.

I'm not saying that manga lovers aren't normal : like someone who doesn't know about football find immersing in the world of sport difficult, the world of manga is not a dimension that is accessible for anyone. Luckily, our capitalist world created mainstream manga : someone who want to start manga will probably begin by reading Naruto, One Piece, Bleach... Or Death Note.

On that note, enter Akumetsu. Akumetsu is a series written by Yoshiaki Tabata and illustrated by Yuki Yugo. You may know the name of those guys if you read the manga Wolf Guy. The story features Niimura Shou, a high-school possessing some kind of power which makes him almighty, and who uses this power to smite evil down from the corrupted society of 21st century's Japan, in an attempt to create a society free from all evil.

Most of you must think that you saw that somewhere else, right? But when you look at the publication dates, something is off. The run time of Death Note starts at 2003,and Akumetsu began publication in 2002. Isn't it weird that Akumetsu is called a "rip-off" when he started first? Let's sort this out.

Story : 9
The story of Akumetsu, as stated previously, stars Shou Niimura who dons the mask of Akumetsu ("eradicate the evil", litteraly) to, well, eradicate the evil. Duh.
So, yes, the story ressembles Death Note, in a way. But the structure of the two tales isn't the same. Where Death Note often baffles readers with the complicated mind games that Yagami pulls off to avoid being discovered, Akumetsu chose to anchor its story deeply into modern time Japan. Yes, the facts that Akumetsu uses to blame his victims are twisted and exaggerated, but they exist in some ways.
To explain the reasons for each murder, the mangakas found a clever way : a mascot character. Aametsu-kun, a kawaii version of Akumetsu, will each time explain, not without a but of humor, why X's a wretch. That contributes to lighten a bit the mood of the Manga, and that's a good thing, as the executions are seriously gruesome sometimes.

Another point of the plot is the story of Akumetsu's origins. Once again, Death Note and Akumetsu chose different paths to walk upon : Magic for Death Note, science fiction for Akumetsu. I won't say anything about why Shou fights evil, but this part of the plot is surprisingly interesting and well crafted, and if you can't stomach episodic mangas, this plotline will help you keeping interest in Akumetsu long enough to finish it.

Character(s) : 8

Surprisingly,the best part of Akumetsu is also its weakest (more on that later).

Let's start with, well, Akumetsu, aka Shou Niimura. This character is awesome in many ways. At school, he's clever, funny, and appears as the funny, always friendly dork you can see in other mangas. But when he dons his Akumetsu mask, his personality takes a whooping 180 : he becomes a cold, sarcastic killer, ready to do anything to kill the target he imposed himself. I particularly liked the way he conveys his justice : no matter how people see him, even if it's as a murderer, he doesn't care. He did what he thought was right, for him and for Japan, and he isn't looking to be seen as a Savior. Unlike Yagami, he's seen as a terrorist and he doesn't give a fuck. And that is simply awesome.

But why is a character like him the weakest point of the Manga? Because, well, there's only him. I mean, the targets of Akumetsu are all only after money, so there's not really a standout antagonist like L in Death note. That's a bit of a shame, as you can discern that there may have been a true antagonist for Akumetsu, but this plotline hasn't been explored.

As for secondary protagonists... Well, there aren't really. I mean, there's Shiina, the traditional heroine in love with the hero, but her only purpose is to watch TV and cry when she sees Shou killing someone. There's the Prime Minister Murata, who is the comic relief of the Manga. Indeed, Akumetsu will often bully him into applying his reforms, calling him a coward and forcing him to stand up and try to change the country. But... That's about it. There's no true memorable character besides Shou. And that's a bit of a shame.

Art : 9

The art is gorgeous. And not in a "Berserk is gorgeous" kind of way. In fact, it is a bit Dragon Ball-esque, with Shou donning the traditional how-much-hair-spray-does-he-uses-per-day spiked hairdo. The traits of the antagonists are very exaggerated, as if they were caricatured. As for the girls, they're "just" beautiful.

Enjoyment : 10

I wasn't a fan of Death Note : I found the Manga overly complicated and maybe a bit too cerebral. Also, maybe I'm weird, but I hate Yagami, with his holier-than-thou attitude, although I must argue he was pretty badass at times.
But Akumetsu is different. The main character is a absolutely friendly and lovable killing machine. Aametsu-kun's interventions make the stakes of each Kill easy to understand and funny, and where Death note chose mind games, Akumetsu chose the paths of flashy, over-the-top executions, where I was often like "this is way too overpowered" while laughing my ass off. Needless to say, the Manga was an awesome read for me.

Overall : 9
Far from a simple Death note rip-off, Akumetsu is a very worthwhile read, with a great story of its own. Fans from Death Note, this is a different beast altogether. Other persons, if you like Black Lagoon, Monster, Until Death do us Part, or American comics like the Punisher, please, do give Akumetsu a try.


Disclaimer : Hidden Gems is a kind of review created by Sayuko01 where the reviewer (that means me) is carried away by the random generator of his favorite Manga reading site, searching for hidden gems, or unspeakable piles of crap.
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Exill12
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
This review might not help you decide if this manga is for you but you can read my review anyways if you want

- This manga gets compared to death note a lot because of how it talks about what is good and what is evil. I'd say don't go in thinking like that mainly because you'll be looking for something like Dead Note. Is this some philosophical master piece? No, but is this manga as hot as the fire being made from your gas stove top? Yes.
-The first 1/3 of the story is really exciting and fast paced with great action, but then it slows down making you think wow this is slow 2/3's in. But then it picks back up and makes you think waw this some spicy shit. I feel that this slowness mid way through was needed to break the repetitiveness of what Akumetsu was doing but that just my opinion.

Some people may find the manga to get a bit repetitive but I think the manga is still worth a read. I personally didn't find it repetitive but I can understand if people would find the actions being done in the manga somewhat repetitive.

Art is amazing
Story is cool. The mystery of what the main character is was pretty easy to guess. However, the mystery that unravels his origin and why he does what he does was done well.
The main character and the police officer are pretty well written.

The manga is enjoyable if your okay with reading a fuck tone of political shit, and you're able to get through the middle part of the story.

My shit analogy: This manga is like one of those dooky's that come out of your butt but dont make a mess. But then halfway through your shit session you start pooping nuggets which extends the poop session. But once your done the shiting the nuggets its another large satisfying log that makes no mess. Manga is like that.
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Hyoukami8
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
STORY (9/10)

The story revolves around a boy named Hazama Shou who has somehow gained the abilities of a superhuman. He calls himself Akumetsu and wears a black mask to identify himself. He swiftly acts against Japan's corrupt politicians to clean up the evil within Japan's political structure. The manga makes you question what is truly good and what is truly evil. If you had the power of change, how would you go on in using it? The basis of this manga is Japan's political system. While they do explain most of the system and their respective powers, Non-Japanese readers may be overwhelmed or simply interested in the workings of the Japanese government. Knowledge of Japan's political system isn't needed to continue reading but it does provide insight to Akumetsu's actions.


MAIN CHARACTER (10/10)

Hazama Shou is a very likable MC. He strives to put a smile upon everyone's faces and fill his life with laughter. However, not all is well in Shou's life. His love interest is forced to sell herself into prostitution and his best friend is hospitalized. Throughout the series we learn more about Shou and why he must take such drastic measures to to reform Japan. His development is greatly portrayed in this manga as he makes his moves to "save" Japan.
MINOR CHARACTERS (6/10)
Probably the only thing wrong with this manga are the minor roles. Not much info is given about them and they have little impact on Shou's development and thinking in the first half of the manga. An antagonist(s) will take the limelight of a few chapters but the focus will switch to a brand new enemy. Akumetsu deals with a multitude of enemies so it's not fair to say that his enemies aren't significant but rather how their role plays into Akumetsu's plans.


ART (10/10)

Amazing! This is the same artist who did Wolf Guy: Ookami no Monshou (which is another amazing manga by the same author). There is no skimping on action scenes. You will see every detailed carefully drawn. While the environment of is often set in a city scene, it may get a bit bland. However Akumetsu path of destruction leaves these scene in ruins and beautifully drawn carnage. However, the best exaples of art for this manga can be seen in the different characters that are drawn. Facial expressions are spot on and every character has an amazingly distinct look. Even when there pages with crowds, you can still see the same level of detail.


All in all, this manga was a great read. The beginning drew me in since I wanted to know why Shou was committing such outrageous actions and the ending of Akumetsu left me quickly turning each page to discover what happens next. You may find the mid section to be a bit repetitive in it's formula but it's purpose is to build towards Akumetsu's grand plan. I find this a must read for those looking to read a manga out of the ordinary.
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PrashastSingh2
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
To me. Akumetsu is everything Death Note should have been (in terms of Death Note's story). I hope I haven't angered anyone by saying that. I consider Akumetsu's story-telling to be wonderful.

The entire philosophy of "What is good? What is evil?" is something that alot of series integrate into their plot.

And so Akumetsu might seem to follow that, it takes a contemporary approach. Featuring science-fiction as opposed to magic.

Story: The details keeps you intrigued. They can be essentially divided into three parts that are all developed as the story progresses.
1. Akumetsu actions and political background of Japan
2. The people trying to understand Akumetsu and/or stop him
3. The revelation of who/what is Akumetsu and how he came to exist.

The first part makes up the most of the story. The 2nd part humanizes the story, and the third part keeps you interested.

I give the story a 9/10. I personally never tired of it. But I can imagine that some people will find the repetitive nature alittle annoying

The art is very cool. It reminds me of a a more artistic sin-city. You shouldn't try to find "moe" in this series, but the female characters are still quite beautiful. (10/10)

Characters get 10/10 from me because for the most part they were all hunanized, made sympathetic, and thus had "depth".
-Shou's anger at the system yet his realization that what "he" is doing is evil
-Shiina's sadness that Shou has put himself up to this task
-A police officer who's sense of justice puts him at odds with Akumetsu, but also puts him against his administration.


Enjoyment. I give enjoyment an 8/10 because the mid part of the story is alittle hard to get into. However overall Akumetsu is a manga that will remain with me as one of the peaks of seinen manga.

I
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lrdalucard5
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
Warning this review may contain spoilers.

First impressions, the concept for a series about a terrorist doing shit for reasons seemed interesting enough and I wanted to see what they do with it.


Story, 6/10

In Japan where the economy is at an all time low and political corruption has reached it's peek.
"One" man will risk life and limb in order to save Japan and destroy the root of this evil by any means necessary.
His name is akumetsu and this is his epic story.


So the story of Akumetsu is pretty much about a terrorist organization made of clones of some crime lord,
who decide to try and save Japan from it's own destruction.
Which is being caused by the corrupt and incompetent politicians which are in power.


So basically the plot plays out like this there an evil politician of the week that he wants to kill for reasons.
Like For example taking tax payers money for yourself or basically just fucking over the general population.
As Akumetsu goes though this over these over the top but epic plans in order to kill seid politicians and expose seid politician for what he/she truly is.
Which is done in a very poetic justice kind of way,
Like for example this one guy who introduced some sort of pharmaceutical product that he said was for the most part very safe. But in reality it actually has a high chance of getting you very sick and can kill you.
So basically want happens to him is that he fucked up in a car accident and he gets kidnapped and gets pumped full of this drug along with the other people trying to push this shit.
And it makes his condition worse and he eventually dies from it.

So it kinda gives you the feeling that your watching a 80s heist movie.
Like there's a big sence of tension and a lot of oh what's going to happen next,
Is he going to complete what he set out to do or will the opposition come out on top for this one.
Other Than that you really isn't much to it in the main story wise.
I could argue that it kind of a political commentary in a sense of how corruption can really fuck up any system and it sometimes take despite action in order for actual change to take place and people who want actual positive change have to go though all these God dam loops in order to get the smallest things done because of how knee deep the corruption really is.

I also like how they went into the reason of why and how akumetsu was made so kind of the back ground plot.
Even though I think it kind of bull shit.
Like what happens is that this one dude has died which the main character knows,
He finds out that he a clone out of meany clones that where made from the DNA of a crime lord who wanted to basically be immortal.
So thought debate and discussion all the main character clones decide to continue with this cloning project with the sole intention of using it to save Japan.
Which dose help explain why they are able to pull off some of the crazy shit they do,
But for all intents and purposes I feel it to bloody convenient for me to actually care about it.
Because let's say for example I have 200 clones of me living in nz,
Which I remind you is a very small country it's quite similar to Japan in size.
The chances of me ever meating one of these clones has pretty low odds of ever happening.
So the fact that he met one of these clones and later on all of them is kind of bull shit to me.
Yes I understand that this is kind of nit picking but I just wanted to get that out of,the way.

But now it time to move on to the actual criticism.
It's so batshit insane that you really can't take it seriously,
Because in all honesty this is shlock if I have ever seen it.
But you know what it high grade shlock and it honest which is better I guess.




Characters, 6/10

The main character I like it kind of relaxed personality and he kind of a badass in a sense,
Because he so unassuming as a person and then he turns around and dose all this crazy shit.
Which is great because it nice to see that contrasts to his normal life and to the terrorist persona that he maintains.
Because like one minute he all chill and then the next minute he cracking skulls and kicking ass.
One problem I did have with him is that he is a pretty much a group at clones at this point so he very doesn't have a sense of identity.
Because he quote on quote dies so much that you really can't care about what happens to him because he still alive as long as there are still clones around.
Also talking about the cloning thing that rises big question as what happens when the clones die, do they get transferred to a new body right as rain or do they actually die and only there memories are just transferred.
So basically the main character is a hive mind at this point.
Which leaves me with more questions than answers.
Because I don't think they addressed the fact that he has no sense of self anymore because he a human hive mind and all that shit.


Side characters,

Are ok,
They all do there parts well.
But at the end of the day there just the usual characters you see in any setting with a high school included.

But a special mention to the politicians,
They are probably one of the most one dimensional villeins I have ever seen in my life
Like God dam there no reason to relate or no reason given why they went down this path.
There just there to be hated which is great for me,
because when they all get killed I am just laughing my ass off and it
Gave me great glee when they thought they where going to stop akumetsu or had thought they where going to live.
But then fail so hard and all that hope just goes away and is replaced with pure fear.
So great.



Art, 6/10

The artwork is kind of patchy and all over the place,
They use a lot of dark lines.
The death scenes are actually quite well done and detailed enough to get the picture.

It was this very gritty style to it and it goes very well with the over the top tone. That the series has a whole.

The character designs are ok,
Nothing really special here.
Except I really like the main character terrorist persona look,
It reminds me of zero from code geass except if it was a bit more edger.


Enjoyment, 7/10

I really found this really entertaining,
Because it's over the top, it bloody as all hell.
And It has this atmosphere which I really like.
I also liked the over the top death scene,
There just chaos and destruction every where.
Like rooms full of dead people all over the place,
Places on fire.


Overall, 6/10
If you're looking for something over the top and gory then check out akumetsu then.
If you want something more serious and down to earth then probably look else where.
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alysho103
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
Story:

Plot is reminiscent of Death Note. MC has a set of morals that he sees the world with. Using a power unique to him, he is able to kill those who he thinks are causing his country to become the way it is. The MC essentially runs a terrorist organization that has superpowers allowing him to kill people at the top of corrupt organizations. The story digs into what are some issues that the modern world is facing and also the mystery in how the MC obtains his power and what it costs.

Some messages conveyed are class issues between the average citizen and elite, government fraud, health care issues, and what is right/wrong for the greater good of society.

5/10

Art:

Initial Thoughts - Backgrounds are not too detailed. Character emotions are clear but not representative. Art style feels like classic manga style - somewhat dated and not as clean as modern/digital drawings. Yet it has a nostalgic feeling and it does not take away from the story. Most panels have backgrounds that are very plain or just blank. Gory scenes are drawn in detail with a lot of blood and violence. Action scenes are not particularly drawn in a way where you would notice that it’s great art.

6/10


Character:

Shou - Basically the only main character. He is light-hearted and funny, manages to be popular and not hated while at the same time has a strong sense of justice and what’s right or wrong. He is the ultimate “good” guy and throughout the manga, he never does anything that would be painted in a negative light by the end of each arc

Side Characters - there are a few side characters that I guess have the purpose to make the manga more rounded, yet they rarely argue their point of view and end up bending to accept what the MC is doing is right. In that sense, I don’t give them a high score.

6/10


Enjoyment:

I enjoyed reading this manga when I was in high school and remember it fondly. I rated it an 8.5 at the time. Revisiting it now, there is a lot left to be desired. Good and evil is defined too loosely and consequences are not shown. It’s too easy to declare something corrupt but no solutions are offered. The MC’s words are taken as truth about what is wrong in Japan, yet there are no alternative paths to suggestion. Violence is doled out to those who don’t fit his sense of justice. The author attempts at times to argue the other side, yet the characters with different viewpoints eventually end up supporting the MC. To me, the ending was semi-realistic and probably more realistic than the rest of the manga. The middle arcs dragged too long and the chapters were not fun to read. The entire history of how the cloning came to be was also hard to get through. I pushed through to get to the ending and because I wanted to see how I would feel about the work as a whole with a different perspective now. Unfortunately, I don’t think Akumetsu offers any solutions to the multitude of problems that are brought up and instead I felt more of a Cultural Revolution type vibe from the public lynchings that were cheered upon by the nation that ended up spurring little to no change.

7/10

Overall:

6/10
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Zanboba12
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
[Story 9/10] At first glance the story seems pretty basic. A character that proclaims himself to be the "savior" because he wipes out what he sees as evil. As the story progresses though you see that the main character actually knows that what he's doing would be considered "evil" and that there are other ways to change the government besides what he's doing, but he wants to change the government himself and his methods are the only way he knows how to do it. That course of action is what takes place through the majority of the manga. Along the way the dynamic parts of the characters are shown and you get to see a little bit of their development, and then the series closes with all of your questions resolved. (Or at least all of mine were) Which in my opinion is one of the best ways to end a manga. Complete closure, and not much left to the imagination except for what the characters will do next.

[Art 10/10] I haven't read all that many different types of manga especially seinen to be able to critique the art so don't take this part of the review seriously. Honestly I hardly even pay attention to backgrounds and such, but I would know that if there were no backgrounds the manga would look rather empty. My main focus art-wise in on the characters. To me though, out of all the manga I have read this has been some of the best art I've seen. I really really liked it.

[Character 10/10] I really enjoyed each and every character and how they were really humanized. You could relate with all of them even all the way down to Shou who just wants to help his country out in the only way he knows how. Then back up to the policeman who is trying to stop Akumetsu, but has to deal with the "politics" of law enforcement that hinder him from doing his job.

[Enjoyment 8/10] Now of course I've been giving this manga pretty high marks but I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Mostly because the world of politics is mostly unknown to me so bringing Japanese politics into that is even worse. The author tried to give the most dumbed down explanations he could, but even then most of the political aspects of this manga really went over my head, which really takes away from the intensity and enjoyment that could be had from reading it. I still gathered the main idea and some of the more simpler explanations though so it still gets pretty high marks from me.

[Overall 9/10] Honestly this is a really great manga and if I could understand maybe 80% of the political aspects in this manga it would be a masterpiece to me. Still, it's a great work of art and I would recommend this to everyone I know. Yeah it gets pretty gory (it's seinen), but politics aren't pretty. So I would imagine changing an entire country's politics would be very very ugly.
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Masshiroi4
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Akumetsu is a story of one man. And a horde of his look-alikes who collectively become known as Akumetsu. They are a terrorist group who kill off evil politicians and people ruining the country of Japan and causing it to accumulate around 7 trillion in national debt. After an Akumetsu kills his target, he dies as well.

The story is pretty simple and is mainly divided into arcs centering around Akumetsu focusing on a certain target and killing that target (pretty much always an old, corrupt, male politician) in a flashy way so that more and more people come to know of them and they can be one step closer to fixing the country. The story can be a little repetitive at times though it always spices up each arc with some new feature (car chase, barricading his target in a room with him, etc.) Akumetsu use the idea of one man, one kill. After they kill an evil person, they die as well because the act of killing is evil in and of itself.

As far as characters go, Akumetsu is about the only important one. Side characters, even if they seem like they will be important at first maybe as a rival to Akumetsu or ally, never become important whatsoever. At most they will pop up from time to time to show how someone with conflicting views on Akumetsu's approach to evil is reacting. The targeted people in each arc get more time spent being focused on than any character who actually survives for more than one arc. Akumetsu, as is shown early on to the reader, is a high school boy named Shou. He is a goofy, geeky, and extremely likable boy that no one around him would ever expect to be a murderer. He is really the only important character overall and gets plenty of development. Unfortunately he suffers from many problems with the biggest problem for me being that his backstory and how Akumetsu began and functions as an organization doesn't even get explained until about 100 chapters into the story. While it does work kind of well on keeping you wanting to know more about the story, that is a huge part of the story and really the only thing that wasn't made clear about how the story would go from early on. The Akumetsu are perfect at nearly everything they do. This relieves any tension the reader has that Akumetsu may fail (aside from only two parts of the story where things don't go as planned). This does still leave you wondering how Akumetsu will actually murder his target which is the main appeal of the story.

As for the art, I'm very mixed on my opinion of it. While it does look very well done for a weekly manga, it suffers from one big problem. It stereotypes things. The evil targets of Akumetsu are always old, disgusting men. Even the one time high school kids are shown shortly to have different views than everyone else, they are shown as disgusting looking people. The good people are not ugly whether they are old or not. However I did like how most of the evil people are created after real people who do look somewhat similar to their manga counterparts (albeit less over-the-top ugly). Still, the art has a very nice look to it aside from this with a style that reminds me more of western superhero comics than Japanese manga. It's got a bit of Batman-like style if you took the superpowered villains out of Batman and replaced them with corrupt politicians.

Despite my problems with Akumetsu, I did enjoy it. It can be very wordy at times about how politics work, and for someone who's not from Japan, can be confusing at times. Still, I found it read fairly quickly and was quite enjoyable especially during the more action packed scenes. In the end, it was well worth the read. Especially if you are interested in political or superhero stories, I recommend reading Akumetsu. Still, if you are looking for a story with a great character cast or an easy-to-understand conflict (one that doesn't involve complicated political views), then I would not recommend it.
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Chinaz4
Mar 27, 2021
Akumetsu 's review
One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it.” (Ronald Reagan)

It is easier to commit murder than to justify it. (Aemilius Papinianus)


PLOT: -

Akumetsu takes us in post 9/11 Japan, where extreme corruption and hearsay lead the country to a massive economic downfall, increasing the public deficit to an enormous seven hundred trillion Yen. Politicians and businessmen simply enrich themselves amid growing unrest.

What would if you do if you the power to eradicate evil? Do you think crime can simply be destroyed by getting rid of all the criminals? In which cases, a murder can be justified?

Akumetsu makes us ponder on these questions while bringing the real life examples in front of us. This is not some fantasy shounen series where the hero just woke up one day and decided to change the world. Akumetsu is a long and hard fight against corrupt bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen, higher ups and most importantly it is a fight against the evil that resides at the core of our hearts.

Akmuetsu is a perfect reply to those who think that manga is just a leisure time activity. If we read this series attentively and try to grab the message, it can have a big positive effect on our lives.
CHARACTERS: -

The characters in Akumetsu are realistic and can be very easily found in every society.

The main character Shou appears to be a cheesy and goofy teenager at first glance but he has much more to his personality. His idea of destroying evil might appear as delusional but that’s not the case. He knows that evil can’t be completely destroyed but he believes that this fact should not stop us from trying to fight against the evil. With his powers, it is not difficult for him to just simply eliminate his targets without causing any ruckus. But the manner of his public trails and his philosophy of ‘one person, one kill’ clearly shows that he’s not doing this for the sake of personal glory and pleasure. Rather he’s a real hero who wants the citizens of his country to step up for their rights and fight the white collars who are eating his country like a cancer.

The overall cast is planned out well and every character plays a good role to make this series better.

ART: -

This manga has a dark and realistic art. Comedy, Suspense, Thrill and above all the ‘graphic violence’ have been drawn magnificently. Yugo Sensei has used famous Japanese celebs and personalities as the reference for characters and hence giving them a realistic look.
CONTENT: -

This manga provides us with facts, figures and explanations about the major types of white collar crimes and frauds committed in Japan. These facts and figures grab the attention of the readers and keep the interest going on.

The dialogues, quotes and statements are nothing short of master class. Yoshiaki Sensei really knows how to create an atmosphere with words and there are countless examples of that in this series.

TARGET AUDIENCE: -

People who love dark and action packed Seinen series will love this manga. Akumetsu is also a perfect manga for Asian (Especially sub-continent) Students and Graduates. This manga will give them a feeling that the story is not set in Japan but in their own countries.

TIPS: -

* 1. This manga contains sci-fi stuff in it. Even if you don’t like that part, don’t get disappointed, this manga has much more in it to make it a great read.

* 2. While reading this series, don’t get the impression that the writer is some depressed middle aged Japanese who is fed up with his country. The setting of this story is indeed a messed up country but that’s how it has been with many Asian countries after 9/11.
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Akumetsu
Akumetsu
Auteur Tabata, Yoshiaki
Artiste --