Les critiques de livres

ReaderElaine5
Mar 25, 2021
Meteor Methuselah 's review
Essentially, this is a love story mixed up with adventure and some fights. It's a little bit different from what I've already read from Kaori Ozaki. Meteor Methuselah looks like an attempt on shounen territory but without abandon the theme of love that generally accompanies the author throughout her other works.
The protagonist, Rain, deals with the fact he's unable to die. He's 620 years old. The behavior from him is not we would expect, though. Rain is very relaxed about it. He chooses to embrace his situation even though he has experienced the loss of people he loved in the past. When Rain encounters Machika - in the beginning as an enemy - they start their path towards a love story.
Machika is the active type of character which balances well with Rain laziness. She's strong, decided. The lovable aspect of her is that we can see her development, much more than the other characters. She's 14, so a teenager. It's possible to see her childish thoughts towards Rain. Kaori Ozaki didn't treat her as an adult as much shounen does when we have a character that should be 14 or 15. Still, they have these fully developed bodies and mind turning them into an ageless character, consequently stealing a little bit of their identity.
Machika is a teenager, and we can tell that either in her behavior as in her body. She's so small compared to Rain that it's weird to imagine them as a couple. It looks wrong. I think the author nailed in that regard. Different from other works of her, the main couple is not evenly matched in their age. She's 14 years old with an adult "boyfriend." (In the end, I rationalized that in the past, in many cultures, this was the age when women were considered adults, so in the context of the manga should be acceptable. However, in the modern world, this is too much, so, for me, it was impossible not to find that weird to the end). Things got complicated as she starts to mature – only in her mindset aspect since the whole story happens in more or less one year. As the story goes on, she turns more into a partner for Rain, rather than some child he's taking care of. On the other side, we see Rain been more human, less the immortal and wise being, beyond our comprehension. So, it's a great dynamic between them, where the more Machika grows, the more of Rain's weakness we see.
The entrance of the third main character turns things more interesting. Yuca starts as an enemy, the antagonist of the story. The natural threat that needs to be defeated or solved by the main characters, but as some events happen, his role in the story changes significantly, and so he ends up being the third part in the Rain-Machika dynamic. Sorry for being vague about him, but since Yuca appears only mid-way through the series, it's difficult to talk about him without giving major spoilers. Only knows that Yuca's presence helps Meteor Methuselah goes past the average shounen story. We don't have a clear antagonist, some force to be destroyed for the sake of humanity. It's a story where characters' interaction is way more important than the big events that happen, which is a characteristic of the genre.
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EggheadLuna6
Mar 25, 2021
Meteor Methuselah 's review
The story of Immortal Rain is one which captured me from the first page. The serene yet tense atmosphere in the first few pages drew me in instantly. From then on it's full of action, suspense, humour, beauty, romance, symbolism, joy and dispair, regret and hope... All sorts.

The characters are simply superb.The first book allows the reader to get to grips with the personalities of the main two and as the story progresses through the first 4 books, we learn more about Machika and Rain; their backgrounds, their painful memories and hopeful spirits. It makes the two truly enchanting,

The art is, for the most part, simply beautiful, and the text makes it memorable. While art is, in truth, highly scarce online, even in black and white it's easy to appreciate the beauty of each message portrated by the work. But let me take the word "art" and apply it to more than just the drawings. The whole feel of the first 4 books is artistic, symbolic and thought provoking.

So why did the story and enjoyment scores suffer? Well, after volume 4, the pace of the plot slows down a little bit. It feels more forced, flows less and has less tension. The relationship between the main characters - Miaka and Rain - appears to have reached its limit, and the two no longer develop as much as they did before. The focus seems to be more on the minor characters, those who I didn't care for as much. While some old characters, those whom I was fond of, were brought back, their presence became almost tedious. Because of this, the plot dragged on a little.

Still, overall, it's a wonderful story. Well worth a read!
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Moon_Light12
Mar 25, 2021
Meteor Methuselah 's review
The immortality of one's soul... is it an amazing gift or a foul curse?

After reading 62 chapters, I remain with the first few lines from volume 2, chapter 8:
I have no name, I have no form, I have no home. I will take your hand with these ethereal fingers. I will call you with this soundless voice.// If I could only embrace your flame in this empty heart.

I liked the story before reading those lines, but it was exactly them that made me love the story, the characters, and even... Yuca.

Pain is a double-edged sword: in Yuca it brings hatred and an almost sociopathic streak, while in Rain it brings a better understanding of the human soul. Both are in pain, and they struggle to end this scorching feeling. And, almost ironically, it is exactly Machika who, in spite of her young age, brings a sense of peace and love to their existence.


The visuals - are so contradictory to the grave plot of the story. It actually hightens the feelings we - the readers - have while reading. Such lovely colors and design that make us or - better said - made me cherish Rain and Machika's beautiful relationship even more.


The charaters are well-drawn and almost realistic. They deal with loss - of loved ones, of their humanity, of their freedom. They love and hate, fight and forgive. And even Yuca, who claims that he is sick of this world, shows signs of being able of feeling.



If there is one thing I dislike about this manga, it is only its 66 chapters span.



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ZephyrSong8
Mar 25, 2021
Meteor Methuselah 's review
This is one of my favourite works of fiction, in any media, ever. And unfortunately, it seems tragically under-read.

The art is beautiful, crisp and clear. You can almost feel every little frown, smile or look of sadness.

The plot is addictive - it combines the drama, action, and loss with just the right amount of humour and romance to lighten the mood, in the appropriate places. The only reason I failed to give it top marks is beacuse it has certain moments where the pace could have been a little quicker, or it seemed a bit repetitive - but these were brief, and didn't majorly detract from the plot at all.

However, Immortal Rain's strongest point, by far, are it's characters. These characters, with their twisted, sad or lonely lives are what draw you into the series and hook you there. The main chacters, and key side characters, all have their pasts explored and developed. The characters never seem half hearted, or shallow. I remember first reading this series, 4 years ago, when I was 14, realising, for the first time in my life, I was jealous of a fictional character - Machika. You can't help but fall in love with Rain, and even a little with Eury, as the series gets on. The characters make you laugh, make you cry, make you anry - sometimes all three. You truly feel like you've read a much, much longer series than you actually have, because you simply know the characters so well.

I will finish this rambling, unpolished fangirl rant-ish review by simply saying this is a sometimes heartwarming, sometimes tragic story of love, loss, and the value of life. I am eagerly awaiting the conclusion in May, as I'm sure many are, and many who've waited much longer than I have too. There's no more I can say other than: read it. You'll never forget it.
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Omegabyyte10
Mar 25, 2021
Meteor Methuselah 's review
''Eww. A six hundred year old wanting to date a fifteen year old? This is gonna get old.''

Ladies and gentleladies and as well as that, possible men. I am an idiot. The above I consider not a spoiler simply because in the first few chapters, this is, by all accounts the main drive of the story. The bond between two people, two rather amazing characters. The lovable, big idiot with a timespan of infinite and a hair length that would make Fabio grumble and the girl with a fiery heart that wants to Kill Him, Kiss Him. Not that manga.

It should be -so- cliche by now. Romance stories of odd couples are hardly unheard of, so I wanted to dislike this manga. I wanted to. Instead, this became, by all accounts, one of my favorite manga's. Ever. I adore it. Immortal Rain, until I came here, was like the last cookie, you hold it to you and treasure the fact it's yours and just yours. The taste only you get to treasure.

I read the whole story. I laughed at bits and I'm not joking, some parts did make me cry. The raw emotion I felt was wonderful, absolutely dang wonderful. It was a read that engaged me throughout and the only places I felt it fell were certain bits with art that felt over-used and also, the story in places does seem to be the same as it usually is. But after a while, the sheer bonds and development between each character, the grinning, insane and alone Sharem, the cocky, swaggering, brave Eury, the stressed out, lost and angered Ishmael, so many characters, so many things to look at.

In short, why read Immortal Rain? It's a rather, simply put, elegant look at the human condition, why we strive to feel things when everything around us makes us want to scream 'screw it' and not care anymore. The small events that make existence wonderful again. I may exaggerate, but it is a favorite to me. I implore you to read it and even if you don't agree with me? We'll talk about it. We'll be able to talk about it and much like the story itself, we'll have one more reason to give a damn about living a little and talking 'bout it.
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Meteor Methuselah
Meteor Methuselah
Auteur Ozaki, Kaori
Artiste --