blue-heavens10

When I was requested to do this review, I wasn’t too happy. The majority of shounens (especially the Big Three – Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) I’ve watched during my anime watching days were absolutely horrible. Let’s see, what did the Big Three have? Super-powered main characters who are rather cocky, stubborn and they got their super power from something or someone. Rather boring.

However, when I read the first chapters, I was pleased that the main character, Edward Elric, was superpowered and very skilled at the first time. Still, he was still very typically shounen; he was rather cocky and won most (if not all) of the fights as well as its story - there is that useless (later damsel-in-distress, and a childhood friend to top it off) girl. But still, it rather impressed me. Unlike in the Big Three, the fights are much much shorter and less ‘X and y fights for no reason.’ Applause!

On a higher note, the art was really well-drawn, if you forgive the sketched out look in the humorous parts.

Overall, this is one of my must-reads for those tired of seeing the regular old shounens. Of course it’s rather typically shounen at some parts and I didn’t like the quality change in its humorous parts. Still, this is quite a read. 8/10.

Without spoiling to my best ability I will try and explain my overall feeling on this manga, and for sure it's a definite must read.. Unless you're not here for a very graphic story that tugs on the very meaning of catharsis. Otherwise if you were looking for something similar to Madoka Magica if even stronger then this is for you.

I found this series out from a post on a social media of all things from a friend back in 2017, stating they had a positive experience with the show. Their post included the opening sequence of 'Underground River' from the anime and well quite literally I was sold.

The music by Kevin Penkin just like Tsukushi Akihito's work on backdrops work together to create something that feels almost like a legendary work of art. Art clashes between beautifully stunning to cute quite a lot which compliments it quite a bit and provides relief after an emotional quest. Further into the story I feel like the art improves a lot. I personally recommend listening to the anime's OST while reading for a great experience.

After watching the anime and experiencing the emotional roller coaster which makes you feel genuinely sorry and sympathetic for the cast. I decided to hop straight into the manga, given my curiosity at the end was killing me to know what was next. To only experience so much more than the anime ever offered bar the music of course.

While to some the pacing can seem too fast for some to build any amount of connection to the characters, however I believe it's warranted. To me the story is about the abyss, well that more than the characters but don't get me wrong. You're in for an amazing story with characters that have morals (or lack there of) and motives and personalities that seemingly contradict why they are why they are.

A main reason to what pulled me into this series is the mystery. I love not really being told so much as it builds up the questions every slight time something is kind of brought up.

Story: 10
Art: 10
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 10

Overall I recommend this 100%. Maybe not to someone that is new to manga and anime but absolutely if you're looking for something to get emotionally invested into.

Full Metal Alchemist is the Harry Potter of the manga world. And when I say that I don’t mean that their plots are remotely the same (although both have a main villain who splits himself seven ways… that’s actually cool) or that they're such big names in their respective mediums and genre (while it's true FMA has nowhere near the same amount of fame internationally as Dragonball or Naruto, it's almost always one of the first anime recommended to new-comers and frequently put on top anime lists); just in the way that absolutely everything about FMA has set itself apart from other shounen manga - heck manga in general - as something special that can't be replicated; near-perfection. The plot is well-rounded, exciting, original, and clever, the world is fun and comprehensible, and its laws obeyed consistently, the characters are all likable, whether friend or foe, and each has a role to play, there are equal amounts of drama, humor, and action, and well… just everything. The ending; absolutely perfect, and it ties up all loose ends. It’s one of those stories that you wish you could erase your memories of just so you could experience the whole thing again for the first time.

The best aspect about FMA is that it is never boring; it has you gripped right from the first. Just reading the basic plot is enough to get a person piqued. Brothers Alphonse and Edward Elric try to bring their mother back from the dead using alchemy, which, as a science, is based on the law that mass can neither be created nor destroyed; equivalent trade. Failing to do so, older brother Edward loses his leg in the process, and Alphonse his entire body. Edward then sacrifices his arm in order to transmute Alphonse’s soul onto a suit of armor. Now the brothers, in an effort to fix their mistake, set off on their journey in trying to recover their original bodies.

Like any good story, this main plot develops into something bigger and heavier as the series progresses, and to carry you along are the main characters of the Elric brothers, and the strong bond they share with each other. They are great protagonists, and they are so filled with emotion (even Alphonse, whose armored face can’t convey much in the way of emotion), and you really do feel for them and want them to accomplish their goals. The characters they encounter, the people that support them, hinder them, or go outright against them – all of them are more complex than simple black-and-white good-v-evil characters. I don’t think there’s a single character in here you could hate (except perhaps the villain, and not because he’s a lame villain but because he’s flipping insane - not even intentionally evil – which is a good thing. Him, and the gold-toothed doctor.)

What’s also nice about FullMetal is that it can’t be easily divided into arcs – the story runs on a one-way track with no sidestops, and it was all very well thought out, with no inconsistencies or any use of deus ex machina. There are several villains, but it’s not a case of defeating a baddy a week and then meeting up with the next. There are no chapters that feel like filler, no stalling for time – every panel is worth something, each page dedicated to forwarding the story or developing a character in some way.

Now I don’t think I can talk about the manga without mentioning the anime – both versions. There are two adaptations, the first loosely based on the manga in the beginning and then deviating entirely a third of the way in, and the reboot that is pretty much exactly the same as the manga, with only a few differences in details. There’s been an endless debate on which is better, although the general consensus is that Brotherhood (the reboot) is hands-on more epic.

I started the manga and the original FMA series at the same time. Although the anime is supposed to be the same as the manga in the beginning, even as early as that I started getting into the manga more than the anime. Near the middle I just gave up the anime entirely in favor of the manga, because the manga was just that gripping. I only continued the anime after I’d finished reading, since I was curious to see how that version would end; the manga hadn’t been finished at the time of its making and the creators had to complete the story themselves.

In my opinion, the manga is easily the best medium through which to tell the story, better even than the reboot anime. Hiromu-sensei’s artwork is so alive and fun; when characters are distressed or scared, you can genuinely see that in their faces; they can be serious one minute and then switch to goofy and hilarious the next with ease. The original FMA anime takes itself a bit too seriously and goes overboard on the drama and dark aspects, and while that actually paid off really well with two important deaths that occur in the beginning that made them more devastating and gut-wrenching than they were in either the manga or the reboot, it had the unfortunate effect of making the character of Edward more gloomy and serious than he was supposed to be. The Edward in the manga is always full of confidence and determination, and although he too doesn’t like to treat human lives lightly, he doesn’t dwell on his regrets as much as his anime counterpart does. The manga, while being light-hearted and cheerful, combines that light-heartedness with drama and action seamlessly. It does a better job of presenting the story than either anime and it gives you more time to spend with the characters and get in touch with their individual personalities. Even if you’ve watched Brotherhood, you’d still be missing out on a lot by skipping the manga. Reading it, you’ll feel like you’re hearing the story for the first time. I’ve read through it three times already and am still not bored.

A word about the English omnibus releases, though - I've bought the first four so far, and I couldn't help but notice how many typos there are. Also, even though the rating is for teens and above and words like 'crap' are used, there are a few instances where swear words are replaced with stuff like '@#&$!' which is only fine when used in comedic purposes. There was also a serious case of mistranslation in volume 4 that I feel like someone in the editing department should've realized, as the translation they put in doesn't make sense in context. Other pet peeves include writing Ling's name as 'Lin' (c'mon, they are obviously saying Ling in the anime!) and writing Xerxes in a way that looks even more unpronounceable, but otherwise it's great to have a hard copy of my favorite manga. All the little sidestories and author biographies are included as well.

Story: 10/10
Art: 8/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

My favorite story of all time.

Story: 6/10
Usually when we start a manga the first impression is usually the one we use when we decide if we want to continue reading or not. For me and mushishi that was not the case. I read the first two books and felt completely confused, so I continued reading. after about the 4th book I understood everything and the story started getting interesting (why wouldn't it be? it's about a guy who roams the country in search of scary insect thingys (mushi) and tries to cure people of them, now that's dang interesting). But once I finished the 4th book I noticed a repetitive storyline. He goes to one village, cures it of a "disease" and quickly runs off to save another village. The other repetitive part was that the diseases were all related to people's eyes, hands/feet, and ears. There wasn't anything related to any other part of the body that could provide a change from the basic routine.

Art: 8/10
The artist really knows how to weird it out. He drew the weirdest things to use for mushi which would add to the effect of mystification. The people that were drawn didn't look anything near inviting to look at, but it added to the effect of the hardships they face with the mushi.

Characters: 7/10
Ginko is really cool in the fact that he is really calm and it sometimes feels like he isn't human because he knows all of this about mushi, and because of the setting and the events. The negative part about the other characters is that compared to Ginko, they are either really superior, or really inferior, there is rarely a good balance between the power characters have over one another and/or the intelligence of the characters.

Enjoyment: 7/10
I enjoyed this manga for books/chapters 5-7. Then I got bored but for some reason kept on reading it. Probably cause I didn't have anything else atm. But there's something about this manga that kinda makes people want to read it till the end, where there's nothing left to read.

Inazuma eleven ares the manga is much better than the anime, it is very short but it is more than anything a short spokon that does not try to make you feel sorry for the protagonists, no character is written well, but none is wrong, the matches are entertaining and the drawing style is good and stable, it makes me the most comfortable of all the ones that inazuma has had, it is a very meh manga but entertaining and quick to read, that's a good thing, it's a manga that you can read quickly And it is entertaining, it has almost no character or story writing but that makes those 4 volumes fast and entertaining, instead of a super complex manga it is something fun, without a doubt it is much better than anime but still it is also meh, a 5/10.

Story 5/10
The story of Tama Hiyori (TH) is exactly as the synopsis states. The male lead saves a baby chick, afterwards, said chick turns into a actual female that does lay eggs. To me, this sounds like it could actually be a decent manga.

The problem is that the story doesn't really progress as you read the manga. You could very well read the first chapter and the last two chapters for all the information you need to know. Every other chapter feels like filler and is somewhat unnecessary to the storyline. You go through 9 chapters of indecisiveness, then the last chapter is practically thrown at you. The ending is completely predictable and boring.

For all the ecchi lovers, this is perfect, as clothes are always being torn off, and no real censoring is placed as cover-up.

Art 8/10
The drawings are really well done. No doubt, this is the best part of this manga. The background images are average, but this takes place in a school, alleyway, and an apartment room, so not much detail needed there. The ecchi is done nicely too. Unlike most ecchi/harems, the boobs in TH are still big, but are a believable size.

Character 5/10
Here are all the characters:
Taishi - typical male lead in a typical harem
Hiyori - female lead, the chick that was saved
Tama - female 'born' in the middle of the series
'Class Prez' - female, tsundere role
Mike - female cat, just randomly appears in the manga

This manga only contains 5 re-appearing characters, only 3 are necessary to the story. I have a thing for tsundere so the "class prez" was my favorite. Everyone else was somewhat unlikeable IMO.

Character development was non-existent, as the only character you truly know about is the one that was "born" in the middle of manga. The male lead is typical, oblivious to everything. The main females, prez and hiyori, are not aggressive, which is unusual in a harem. It isn't until the 11th chapter, when the story picks up, then ends with the 12th

Enjoyment 3/10
This manga did happen to draw a few chuckles out of me, but that was literally in the first and eleventh chapter... every other chapter was painfully boring to read. Personal experience, i read the first 7 chapters, stopped for about 2 months, then decided to just finish it. I am not a fan of ecchi either, and the typical "whoops i tripped, exposing your [uncensored] breast and/or [somewhat censored] crotch" is not funny... as I stated before, with the non-aggressive attitudes, they don't even beat the guy afterwards

Overall 5/10
Tama Hiyori does give you something to look at, with the nice drawings, but the story is forced and predictable.

Read if you like ecchi, harem situations... otherwise i suggest you find something better to read, which would not be that hard to do

Sigh...

I was really really pumped up to read this manga, considering I loved the School Days anime. Thus I was expecting an emotional drama filled with several memorable moments. Instead I got two memorable quotes. Which were in the final two chapters. The rest? FLUFF!

School Days the manga is based off of a visual novel that also has a rather infamous anime adaption. For those of you who are unaware, it tells the story of a boy named Makoto. The girl who sits by him in class, Sekai, finds out he likes a girl called Kotonoha and helps Makoto become Kotonoha's boyfriend. But Sekai happens to have a crush on Makoto. Lame premise, I know, but the anime was able to take it and make it work really well.

The anime however, had these three episodes of fluff at the beginning. It was needed to set up the characters and help the emotional impact in the later scenes. Not to mention it was entertaining fluff. School Days the manga has eight, arguably nine chapters of pointless romantic fluff however, that isn't funny or cute. It's just fluff. Romantic, shoujo-like romantic fluff, and there are few things in the world that I find more annoying than shoujo romantic fluff. These chapters are pointless. Anyone familiar with School Days could just skip to chapter eight with little problem. So School Days, for the most part, is a straight up romantic comedy instead of a drama, which makes the ending laughable.

Don't worry, anime fans! School Days also has that kind of ending to it, and it is the best part of the manga by far. However, it feels very tacked on. I mean, you've been reading comedic fluff for however long it takes you to read the early chapters, and then suddenly a knife gets pulled out. It's not scary, it's not dramatic, it is hilarious. You can't just pull out a knife out of fuckin' nowhere, you need build-up, which the anime had. And the manga had zero of.

The characters also took a step down too. Makoto lost most of his lovable idiocy that makes him one of my favorite of the male romance protagonist types (yes, I liked him in the anime a lot, I have strange tastes, okay?) and is now just a, well, just another dull male romance protagonist. Yippee! Sekai also takes a step down in this, pushing herself way too much on Makoto. And Kotonoha is still Kotonoha, whiny and too shy. (I never really liked her...) And both girls suddenly go crazy at the end for little reason. Shock factor barely redeems it, but still. All of the other characters are merely turned into side characters, most of them don't even get their names dropped. Which is good and bad. All of the forgettable ones are gone but the memorable ones are also gone.

The art is very cutesy, but doesn't really work out. It looks very messy and at times it's tough to tell Sekai and Kotonoha apart. While everyone suddenly looking a lot more moe compared to the character designs in the anime (which were as generic as generic can be) threw me off for a bit, in a way it does fit the more light-hearted tone for the manga.

If you like romantic fluff, sudden twist endings, and can't get enough of anime like Myself Yourself and H2O Footprints in the Sand, then this is the perfect manga for you. School Days fans like me will be disappointed. I don't recommend this manga. Watch the anime instead, it's really good.

It's not everyday I get to review a mature manga, only when it's really good. And, I gotta say, this was a crazy ride.

At first glance, it may seem like another NTR hentai. The thing is: it's not. While it did present the wife sleeping with other guys, it was with the consent of the husband. From that alone, you might think it's another hentai. But what made it unique was the concept of "what happened afterwards?".

I've played a lot of eroge, and it usually leaves the story with the wife getting gangb**ged or ending up with the paramour. This manga followed none of that. While the latter did occur somewhere in the middle of the manga, it didn't stay for long.

And the one thing that really made it unique was its use of drama. The reason I didn't tag this as hentai is because sex was not the only thing it offered. Heck, some chapters don't even have it. The reason why people think it's hentai is because of the concept of NTR. Fun fact: that tag isn't always used in hentai. It's used a lot in TV dramas as well. And this series captured the essence of drama in NTR.

As this is a mature manga, I don't really recommend this to young readers. But I do recommend it to adults just to show how fetishes can break two lover's relationship.

So this was difficult to score, since it's essentially a wack load of short stories rolled into one. The art style changes from one story to another, but the art is excellent in each one. Actually, it reminds me a lot of art that Haruko Ichikawa would draw. And that's a biiiig plus for me. Characters are all different so it's hard to say if they're good or not, but since they were all written by the same person, you get some pretty high quality writing. Though, the enjoyment is good, you kind of feel short changed after a few chapters because you begin to get invested into the character, only to have it end quickly. Overall, it's a good read, nothing heavy, but some stuff is really interesting.

Going into the manga it was very promising. Even now it has room to grow. Although this is the case its characters are boring and annoying. Kuro being the worst. She is a complete degenerate that is manipulative to the point where she torturing the MC. She alone ruins the series but at the same time makes it more interesting. If she was not there this story would be even more cliche.

Story: 6
Boring story, nothing special at all. Basic cultural festival and other events. The revenge concept is interesting but has no backbone to it. It feels as though the author is trying to make this a revenge story but I do not see any true purpose behind the revenge.

Art: 7
It's average. Not bad nor is it special. Backgrounds are incredibly dull, character art is nice but characters design is not memorable.

Character: 6
This was the deciding factor for the series. Characters are all cliche but the decisions they make have little to no purpose to them. It's all just to make it more interesting. Everything the female leads do seem to just add is for the sake of the story, but it's so rushed and the characters are not developing but their behavior is determined in the first chapter. From the get-go, Kuro is manipulative and so conceited. She has an appeal to her, she's a terrible person and I hope the author doesn't go with his title. The osananajimi character is usually the better choice but somehow this character makes me hate her (this also is why the character is as high as 6). This is annoying to watch her hinder the main character's life, but her writing makes the whole story slightly worthwhile. Lastly, the best friend is terrible, your average tool of a character, maybe he's jealous or something but he needs to chill. He's boring and a bully, nothing else to it.

Enjoyment: 6
I got through it. Some of the events were so annoying that is memorable. If it was longer then the enjoyment would've been lower unless we can get more to the story.

TLDR: All in all, it's pretty bad but not a terrible read, I've read worse. If you looking for a harem that tries to go against some of the norms it might be for you.