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Posted in Action.

One Piece

Posted on by leyano
Image result for one piece anime"

Summary:

Gol D. Roger, a man referred to as the “Pirate King,” is set to be executed by the World Government. But just before his demise, he confirms the existence of a great treasure, One Piece, located somewhere within the vast ocean known as the Grand Line. Announcing that One Piece can be claimed by anyone worthy enough to reach it, the Pirate King is executed and the Great Age of Pirates begins.

Twenty-two years later, a young man by the name of Monkey D. Luffy is ready to embark on his own adventure, searching for One Piece and striving to become the new Pirate King. Armed with just a straw hat, a small boat, and an elastic body, he sets out on a fantastic journey to gather his own crew and a worthy ship that will take them across the Grand Line to claim the greatest status on the high seas.

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Frequently categorized with both Bleach and Naruto as one of the Shonen Big Three, One Piece is a romantic tale of pirates, treasures …talking reindeer, panties, flying skeletons, Takoyaki selling Octopuses, and oceans roaming with Sea Monsters the size of which can take down fleets of ships. Crazy enough for you? This is the world of One Piece.

Being categorized with Bleach and Naruto, on the surface this might strike an unfamiliar reader as another generic uncreative Shonen series; but truthfully, comparing One Piece to Bleach and Naruto would be like comparing Disney World to an elementary school playground. If these three series are the big three, then One Piece would be the boss sitting on a lavish chair smoking a cigarette, while Bleach and Naruto would be the two henchmen standing side by side of the boss and nodding at everything he says.

Story: 10/10

Set during the Golden Age of Pirates, the story follows Monkey D Luffy as he sets sail with his crew to conquer the sea which is inhabited by formidable pirates who all aim to become the Pirate King, the Grand Line and claim the treasures of ‘One Piece’ left by the late Pirate King, Gol D Roger.

Of course the goal of being Pirate King really is just a loose objective set forward that eventually throws Luffy and his shipmates into a giant boiling pot full of problems and adventures. What’s special about this story is that it takes the most run-of-the-mill concepts and turns it into something fantastic and exciting. The concept of traveling from drastically different locations after locations is filled with endlessly creative characters and creatures that sets it apart from ever being dull, as opposed to say, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle where traveling to new worlds is a borefest and you can only hope the next world is interesting, and well if it’s not …have fun reading an entire arc on that filled with recycled characters.

The main plot device used in One Piece are the Devil Fruits, which grant anyone that eats them inhuman powers though at the deadly price of sinking like an anchor in the water; here the strange irony being that this is a series about pirates constantly on water. What makes this concept actually interesting is that every fruit has a different power and no two powers are the same, and Oda’s endless imagination to come up with strange and hilarious powers. Above that, what makes this concept better than say, Bankai’s or Kekkei Genkai’s, is that you never know how two powers match up, so the weakest Devil Fruit powers in the current arc could very well be the key factor to winning a battle in the next, in that way, none of the characters ever seem so overpowered that they can completely destroy the other characters and it certainly adds an air of suspension and excitement to the battles that you wouldn’t find in something like Sasuke vs. Konohamaru.

The story of One Piece may be simple and often straight out silly at times, but if you read deep enough, you’ll realize that oftentimes the stories are much deeper and well-crafted than you would think they are, from the spark of a rebellion through misunderstandings to the questioning of an unfair God, One Piece can often surprise you through the story. One of the great things about One Piece when it comes to the story is that it’s unpredictable, you never know where a fight is going, what’s going to happen to the characters, who’s going to win and who’s going to turn out to be a good guy and who’s going to be a bad guy, it’s this element that makes everything that happens so intriguing and an extremely fun read.

Another well-done part of the story is that the stories of the characters are all intertwined so that it doesn’t seem like the only thing holding all these characters together is through the main protagonist, the main antagonist of one arc may very well know the supporting ally of the next, and that just contributes to a more interesting read. Another strong point of the story is that Oda isn’t afraid to bring back old characters, be it enemies or comical side characters and villains, they aren’t just cut out of the story once their arc is over, they come back, some as allies and friends, this, in a sense, really fleshes out the One Piece world and makes the reader feel that the world does not revolve around The Straw Hat Pirates, but instead, the pirates of the Grand Line, all in all, it adds a sense of dimension to the story and makes it feel not as linear as it could be in the hands of a less skilled mangaka.

But what ultimately makes the story of One Piece so grand and exciting is thanks to two major components: 1) the emotional depth, and 2), Oda’s masterful storytelling. The emotional depth in this series is amazing and can oftentimes leave one speechless, from the simple departure of a character to join the Straw Hats to the rescue of a friend in need, it’s not emotionally complex …it’s just plain raw emotion of wanting to be loved or the sadness of losing a friend yet it achieves such a level of pure emotion and excitement that the likes of Bleach and Naruto can only dream of achieving. Now the second component that makes One Piece great is how Oda tells the story, he can build up the story to the point where you can feel the urgency, the sense of despair, and the feeling of something great happening. He creates cliffhangers, yet never makes it irritatingly frustrating, he inserts flashbacks, yet they never feel out of place or annoying to read, and the way he builds up the fights is just, for the lack of better worlds, epic. People say Gurren Lagann is exciting, well I’d like to see those TTGL fans have a taste of what it feels as the Straw Hats infiltrate Enies Lobby or when The Eleven Supernovas gather at Sabaody Archipelago.

Combine this with the perfect blend of humor (this manga is absolutely hilarious) and the sheer creativity of Oda and you got yourself an adventure of unequaled proportions.

Art: 10/10

The bad thing with the art is that Oda’s action sequences are so fast-paced and ambitious that it often times becomes muddled and a bit too messy; it gets hard to tell what’s happening in these fight scenes and it takes a bit of imagination to understand what Oda is trying to do with these fight scenes, or else they come off rather cheesy at times, such as Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Gatling or Zoro’s Kiki Kyūtōryū: Ashura.

The good on the other hand outweigh the bad of the art through the creative character designs that Oda just never seems to run out of, even if it’s a character that appears in one panel and may never show up again, the utmost attention is given to his/her design so they never appear out of place compared to the other crazy designs he gives his characters. From the Okama Mr. 2 to the CP9 crew, the characters are all so different in appearance, size, and demeanor, it’s hard to imagine how Oda keeps up. The sheer variability of the Straw Hat crew itself is a primary example of what a creative mangaka Oda is, as opposed to the recycled designs of his peers, Kishimoto and Kubo. Be it skeleton, reindeer, cyborg or witch, anyone and everyone is a likely candidate for the Straw Hat crew.

Aside from character designs, Oda really make the scenes feel cinematic and exciting, the tension and the sheer majestic and romantic quality of the adventure of the Straw Hats would never be fantastic without Oda’s use of great art, from the crew getting ready to bombard Arlong Park to the storming of Enies Lobby, the examples go on. In short, Oda really knows how to pump you up through his art.

Lastly, the exaggerated expressions sometimes are just downright hilarious. I swear I laughed my ass off for at least five minutes when Enel made that huge WTF face after confronting Luffy.

Character: 10/10

This is where One Piece is particularly strong in, and where this series shine at its greatest. One Piece’s cast is colorful, hilarious, and unpredictable. Currently, the Straw Hat crew consists of a rubber man, a pirate hunting pirate, a thief, a long nosed sniper, a womanizing cook, a transforming reindeer, a “witch”, a cyborg that doesn’t wear pants, and a walking skeleton.

Yep.

Each character is unique, and when you throw a bunch like them together, the chemistry and interaction between the Straw Hat crew is comedic gold. And while they are almost always fooling around, each Straw Hat member has their own back stories that truly make them much deeper than what they appear to be at first. Brook is not just a joke character for variety, Nami is not just there to act like the straight man, Luffy isn’t always a senseless fool, and Robin isn’t just there to act like a damsel in distress (okay maybe she is …kidding). The thing that needs to be pointed out is that the Straw Hat crew is a complex cast that is often much deeper than meets the eye.

Outside the crew, both the friends the Straw Hat meet and the villains they confront are so freshly colorful and original, it never gets boring. The Shichibukai are just a perfect example of the variety of the One Piece cast, as well as CP9 and of course, Baroque Works. I would say it’s pretty hard to find another cast so distinctive and creative as One Piece’s. Of course the Devil Fruits certainly help in bringing the characters to life.

Like previously mentioned, a strong point of the characters is how connected they are. The connections between characters are complex and can get pretty surprising sometimes. Who may appear as an old man could very well be friends with the former Pirate King and that whale that you saw at that mountain? Oh he’s related to a guy you’ll meet up with in a couple of hundred chapters. Some authors pull this kind of stuff out of nowhere (see: Kishimoto), but Oda plans out these kind of relations so intricately and carefully, you can’t help but be impressed.

Are there weak points to the characters? Certainly, there’s a storyline that seems awfully repeated for the female crew-members of the Straw Hats, but the scale of the story is so big, that in the end, it doesn’t matter that much and that one little slip-up never seemed like a big deal to begin with.

Enjoyment: 10/10

This is the most enjoyable manga I have ever read. It’s an absolute pleasure to read. Are there dull parts? At the beginning of every arc, there is always some exposition to be done, but once things enter full swing (and that is rather fast), damn, the chapters fly by in the hundreds, this is crack in manga form. If you want to know, I have spent entire days reading One Piece, that is how addicting this stuff is. With One Piece breaking records in sales in Japan, I think it speaks for itself when it comes to enjoyment.

Overall: 10/10

One Piece is my favorite manga. Period. The story is such a grand and epic adventure, with each arc topping the previous; the characters are so tear-inducingly hilarious, and the art is so cinematic and exciting, One Piece is without the doubt, the greatest Shonen manga I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and I doubt it will be topped anytime soon, if ever, as my favorite manga series. Cheers to Oda for creating this Shonen masterpiece, and may he continue to keep on going, One Piece is a manga that I love and hope to read for many many many years to come.

Yohohoho a pirate’s life for me~

Posted in Shoujo

Gakuen Alice (Alice Academy)

Posted on by leyano
Image result for gakuen alice manga"

Summary:
Young Mikan runs away to Tokyo to follow her best friend, Hotaru, who has been enrolled in an exclusive, secretive private school for geniuses. But it turns out that Alice Academy is a lot more than meets the eye. If Mikan wants to stay by Hotaru’s side, she has to both pass the strange “entrance exam” and face the even greater challenge of befriending her very odd new classmates. Whether it’s Hotaru’s gift for inventing gadgets, the cranky Natsume’s fire-casting ability, or Professor Narumi’s control of human pheromones, everyone at the school has some sort of special talent. But what ability, if any, does Mikan possess? Mikan is going to have to rely on her courage and spunk if she’s going to stay in school, or even stay alive!

Author: Higuchi Tachibana

This manga was the reason I started with anime & related stuff.
And now, being nostalgic, I finished the anime and right after, reading it.
I’ll try not to make spoilers ~

Story: 9/10
It starts really simple, Mikan (the main character) only wants to follow her best friend (Hotaru) that leaves from her town to go to an elite academy and discovers that if she wants to assist the same school as Hotaru she needs to have an “Alice” (special power) like her.
However, there’s much more behind this. The teachers, the students and even the academy itself has a big secret and darkness inside.
Between the arcs, they are very many plot points that’ll make you surprise, sad or any other emotion. And Mikan’s past/ future story (well, all character in general) has an emotive development until the end. I’m sure that if you aren’t a non-sensitive person, you will feel one with the story.
What I kind of dislike a bit is that it’s an open plot, the end makes you feel that there is more, but it isn’t.

Art: 8.5/10
The art is simple, too. I’ve seen very bad drawings in other anime/manga, but this one is quite nice. I must admit that the facial expressions and actions, in general, are perfectly drawn, you really get to know how the characters are feeling. And like they said before, every detail in the background is well drawn (for example in the Christmas event or sports festival), too.
… Sorry but the character design are not my taste in general — okay, when I discovered it for the first time I found it awesome~ how obvious was that I never saw other drawings 😀

Character and development: 10/10
And this one is very obvious. The four main characters (Mikan, Hotaru, Natsume, and Luca-pyon), each of them has their own story. Not only these four but every single character that appears also has a function there. They’re people who at first you will hate but, at the final arc, you will love them.
I don’t wanna say so much about this because spoilers, I can only say that Tachibana did a great job with the development of every character.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I laughed, cried, was angry when things don’t go well.
This anime starts with a lot of comedy, although when the story goes on, comedy is less, it’s still there. The more I continued reading, the most I wanted to read more, I’ve finished it in three days I think, lol.
Still, I enjoyed it so much, every arc was interesting and a clue to the final arc.

General: 9/10
If it wouldn’t be because of the art and the final, I’m sure it’d be a masterpiece.
I really recommend to read this, the anime is too short compared to how much deeper it is.

Posted in Romance

Kaichou Wa Maid Sama (The Student Council President is a Maid!)

Posted on by leyano
Image result for kaichou wa maid sama manga"

Summary:
Brilliant and overachieving, Misaki Ayuzawa is the President of the Student Council at Seika High School, formerly a boys’ school. Unfortunately, most of the students are still male and stuck in their slovenly habits, so man-hating Misaki really socks it to ’em in an attempt to make the school presentable to attract more female students. But what will she do when the sexiest boy in school finds out that after school, Misaki works in a maid cafe. — Also included in this manga is a short story called Toumei na Sekai in volume one. Training, studying, and even becoming the first female student council president of the school, Misaki has gained a reputation among the male student’s body as an uptight, boy-hating dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. However, despite her tough-as-nails appearance, she secretly works part-time at a maid café in order to support her family. Unfortunately, her hard-earned reputation is threatened when the popular, attractive, and somewhat impassive Takumi Usui takes an interest in her after discovering her in a maid uniform after school.

Author: Fujiwara Hiro

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama is a shoujo manga with a bit of attitude and a pair of interesting main characters. It isn’t entirely original, unique or different from other shoujo already fleshed out for audiences to read about but what it does do is make you laugh, make you smile and even think that maybe some hot guys could be aliens.

Story: 7/10
I’m not going to lie here, the story isn’t very original once you get past some key elements. Basically, you follow the life and adventures of Misaki, who is currently the “Iron Fisted” President of her now co-ed high school. With the majority of the students still male, she took it upon herself to throw down the ballot and make some changes for the female populace and herself. The thing is, she has a secret that she can’t exactly tell the world; she works in a maid cafe to earn money for her family, consisting of her sister and her mother. Ironically (and rather a cliche), there’s this really hot, mysterious and rather popular guy named Usui who notices the President and accidentally finds out her secret. And thus, the hilarity, the annoyance, and the fun times ensue.

So basically, what you have is an interesting concept but with cliched aspects that really don’t separate it from most shoujo manga (the sexual tension, putting up a front with people, being annoyed but loved by a hot guy, etc). It’s not done badly though so it’s enjoyable if you’re looking for something original and different, you won’t find much of an edge with Maid-Sama.

Art: 8/10
The artwork is decent. If you compare the old artwork in the first chapters to the latest chapters, there is a big difference in the artwork. It’s not crappy in the beginning but it doesn’t look as appealing as it does later on. Personally, I think the artwork is one of the strongest points of the manga and the mangaka does a great job of making the characters attractive and nice-looking. Usui is definitely that sexy guy that most can see why girls love him and Misaki, though brash and rough, is a pretty woman.

Characters: 8/10
Mainly, it’s the main characters that give this story its strength. You have Misaki, who is not your typically weak-willed, naive and annoying heroine. She is a bit naive in some aspects but still, her character is fresh and nice. She is a really funny person, a strong woman and an independent lady (which, no offense to a lot of shoujo women, is a good change of pace). Then you have her chip on the shoulder, Usui. He’s smart, athletic, sexy, enticing, and overall, like the perfect smartass. He seems perfect, which is kind of cliche with most mangas but still, he’s just enjoyable as a character (and did I mention, really sexy?).

As for the other characters, you have the students of Misaki’s school, student council members and a rather busty teacher who comes later on as well as the Maid Cafe workers who are a collective bunch of cliches. They are cute but not really original. Though I’m not going to lie, I do have a soft spot for one of the characters (his name escapes me) who wears glasses and is shy. But anyway, it’s not unique or original but it makes the story cute.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Honestly, this manga isn’t very original as I’ve said but it’s still enjoyable. The main issue I have though is those frustrating elements of shoujo manga where the main couple has way too much sexual tension and won’t get together. I won’t spoil the series for anyone but at a certain point, I start to think “Wow…so you two are together…are not together?” I mean, it’s like real life I suppose but still, it’s a bit frustrating, enticing but kind of annoying all the same. But overall, it’s pretty enjoyable.

Overall: 8/10
So basically, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama is your typical but slightly unique shoujo manga that makes you laugh, makes itself look cute and has some nice artwork. Besides that, it’s not original but has an interesting lead and sexy suitor/potential partner so overall, I’d say if you want to read a shoujo manga with a slight difference from most, go read this one. Otherwise, if you want something gripping, different, unique and ground-breaking, I’d keep to steppin.

Posted in Horror

Tomie

Posted on by leyano
Image result for tomie manga"

Summary:
In a high school classroom, students mourn the loss of one of their own: Tomie Kawakami, who has been murdered and dismembered. Shocked by the announcement of her death, the class is puzzled by the cruel fate that has befallen someone so dear to them; such a radiant and beautiful girl did not deserve such a hideous demise. However, a strikingly familiar student suddenly appears at the classroom’s entrance. Gorgeous, slender, and with a beauty mark under her left eye, Tomie smiles and apologizes for being late. But this is just the beginning of the mysteries surrounding this seemingly inhuman woman. The men unlucky enough to catch her eye become smitten with her instantly but also become driven by a dark impulse to dismember her, one they often succumb to. And each time, Tomie returns from the dead to continue her favorite pastime: toying with men.

Author: Itou Junji

Junji Ito writes horror manga. He has his own style of horror which separates him from all of the other manga artists.

Story: 6/10

I sometimes just thought to myself the story doesn’t really make sense, I don’t know whats going on then… Finally, you get back on track.

Art: 10/10

The style from Junji Ito is just amazing. The style of art that he creates blows a lot of other horror manga artists out of the water! He can turn something like a simple spiral to something incredible.

Character: 5/10

Sometimes you think, why is this character here. Also, the characters may go off-topic from time to time.

Enjoyment: 7/10

What really made me enjoy this book was mainly the illustration. The story line was fair.

Overall: 6/10

Although the art was fantastic, overall you need a good story and the characters are what make the story happen. If you don’t enjoy the manga a lot, it’s not the best manga.

Posted in Historical

Inuyasha

Posted on by leyano
Image result for inuyasha manga"

Summary:
Kagome is a modern Japanese high-school girl. Never the type to believe in myths and legends, her world view dramatically changes when, one day, she’s pulled out of her own time and into another! There, in Japan’s ancient past, Kagome discovers more than a few of those dusty old legends are true, and that her destiny is linked to one legendary creature in particular–the dog-like half-demon called Inuyasha! That same trick of fate also ties them both to the Shikon Jewel, or “Jewel of Four Souls.” But demons beware…the smallest shard of the Shikon Jewel can give the user unimaginable power. Won the 47th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shounen category.

Author: Takahashi Rumiko

InuYasha is an amazing and very well made manga. It’s a classic. I find it to be very enjoyable to read, with lovable characters, great storyline, and amazing art. (well, it’s not the best art, but it’s still likable in my opinion). The manga is a page-turner. It’s very easy to get hooked onto it.

Storyline: 10/10

SPOILERS. InuYasha is about a girl named Kagome who travels through a well who meets a dog demon named InuYasha. She travels with him to find jewel shard pieces after it breaks. They must find the shards before Naraku, an evil demon tries to get his hands on it. The story is VERY enjoyable. It gets much better as it goes on, bringing very good characters. It has plenty of action,drama,romance,comedy,magic,and adventure. This is the best storyline ever in mange besides Naruto. Wonderful storyline.

Characters: 10/10

InuYasha has amazing and enjoyable characters. They are all great. InuYasha has a large number of characters and they all mature. The character development is the best. the characters get better and better. The love between Kagome and InuYasha is so funny. Sesshomaru is an amazing character who I find to be the best character. They are all fun and wonderful.

Art: 10/10

InuYasha is said to have terrible art. I disagree. The art is really good in my opinion. The love the character design of InuYasha and Kagome. It’s just enjoyable to look at. I really enjoy the art overall, because of the classic shounen look.

Enjoyment: 10/10

InuYasha is a wonderful, classic, manga. The enjoyment is very high. Everything is great. No manga is greater when it comes to enjoyment. (well, maybe Naruto). But overall, this manga has VERY enjoyable art, characters, and storyline.

Overall: 10/10

InuYasha is the best manga out there I have read. It’s so great. I love this manga. A true classic.

Posted in Harem

Rosario Vampire

Posted on by leyano
Image result for rosario vampire manga"

Summary:


Season 1: By a bizzare coincidence, Tsukune Aono has accidentally gotten himself admitted to a youkai acadamy, a school attended by monsters (youkai). Just when he thinks he’ll run away from there, he meets the beautiful girl Moka and his mood turns ultra happy. However, she transforms into her true form when the rosary on her chest is taken off, she’s a super vampire!

Author: Ikeda Akihisa

Now to talk about what I consider to be one of the best cases of the manga being superior to the anime, Rosario + Vampire.

Story – 10/10
15 year old Tsukune Aono enrolls at the Youkai Academy, due to the fact that no other high school will accept him, and while walking from the bus to the school, a girl named Moka Akashiya crashes into him – who reveals herself to be a vampire by sucking Tsukune’s blood. After arriving at the school, he quickly realizes that the school is actually a school for monsters. And it turns out that Moka is in his class.

The story in the manga isn’t exactly ground breaking on it’s own, but it’s actually like it’s completely different from the anime – mainly because it feels like they take more time to flesh out the characters, as opposed to the anime, which felt like it was basically trying to rush to introduce all of the characters from the first season (I cannot comment on the second season, since I have not seen it, and to my understanding, the second season of the anime is not adapted from the manga). True, they do establish that this is a harem by introducing Kurumu in the second chapter, but after that, whenever a character is introduced, it feels like said character is actually being introduced to the story, instead of being forced into the story. Also, the fight scenes actually feel like fight scenes – they don’t have a lot of fanservice, so it’s easier to take them seriously. Also, the manga has a lot more content than the anime – however, I’m not going to list out all the things that the manga has that the anime doesn’t, since that would be spoiling the manga, and it would also take me a long time to do so.

Art – 9/10
The anime has ONE advantage over the manga in this area: it’s colored. Other than that, I would actually say that the art in the anime was a downgrade from the art in the manga (although I think that the studio responsible for making the anime adaptation is to blame for that).

Character – 10/10
While the personalities of the characters in the manga are similar to their anime counterparts, as mentioned previously, they have more time to develop, and as a result, they feel more fleshed out. Also, because there’s more content in the manga, we actually get to see aspects of the characters that the anime doesn’t show. For example, Mizore and Kurumu’s parents are actually introduced – and it’s apparent that the traits of those 2 are passed down.

Enjoyment: 10/10
This has easily earned itself a spot on my top 5 favorite manga, and I’m definitely going to read the second season. Stay tuned for when I eventually tackle the second season of the manga.

Season 2: Youkai Academy has reopened since the damages done to the school during the riot (Season 1). Aono Tsukune now returns to school, but unlike the last time he first walked into the academy, he now has the blood of a vampire flowing within him. Dealing with girls and school life has never been tougher, but now Tsukune must control his new inner vampire as he encounters many new types of enemies.

I love that Rosario+Vampire gets progressively darker as the series goes on. While the first couple of books were just a generic harem comedy (but with monsters!!! omg), by the end of season I it was clear there was far more potential here than probably even the author initially thought.

Story: 7/10
Season II opens with the usual R+V harem hijinks, then gradually introduces some fun and interesting new characters. Not long into the story, the new main villain(s) begins to move into the picture. Akihisa Ikeda is continually experimenting with all different subject matter this time around; everything from class struggles to abandoned children. None of these are discussed to any great extent, but they’re still there, and it’s better to not go all the way than go too far and seem like you’re talking down to your audience. The story was never really the selling point of Rosario+Vampire, anyway, so it does its job more than well enough.

Art: 8/10
I’ve always been a fan of Ikeda’s art style, with his excellent balance of detailed linework, inspired monster designs, and of course, cute girls. The characters are instantly recognizable, and you would remember them if he decided to cut them out of the story and bring them back years later. His one fatal flaw is the under-drawings: the base models that just get drawn over with hair, clothes, etc. If an artist skimps out on these, then the final product, no matter how well-rendered, will always appear slightly off to a wary eye. When he gets it right, however, everything clicks are the results are fantastic. At the time of this writing, 35 chapters have been released, and some of the battles thus far have been mind-blowing. Not Berserk-level mind-blowing, mind you, but still pretty darn impressive.

Characters: 7/10
As stated before, the artist certainly knows how to design visually appealing characters. Whether they can match that appeal with their level of depth is another matter. Tsukune continues to be an incessantly nice guy, which is nice, but not particularly interesting. Outer Moka is thankfully being given more personality, and slowly becoming a character that actually deserves to be the lead heroine. A common criticism of the series is Inner Moka is often eschewed in favor of Outer Moka, though this finally seems to be balancing out as the vampire culture is explored. Kurumu and Yukari roughly keep their same level of importance as they have in the past, and fans of Mizore might be a bit disappointed, as she is pushed to the background again, save for one major arc solely dedicated to her. Just like the first season, those given the most thought are the villains and the characters that are only present for one arc and then are never mentioned again. Though to be fair, this is often the case with every piece of writing, and not just Rosario+Vampire.

Enjoyment: 9
With a series like this, enjoyment is what it really comes down to, and R+V does not disappoint. This is one of the most consistently entertaining manga out right now, and the month-long wait between chapters can be quite painful at times. The fight scenes are well-thought out, and hot girls fighting monsters is always cool. Ikeda also seems to have taken some pointers from the anime, because the fanservice is also better (they even have nipples every once in a while \o/ ). It’s rarely distracting, though; unlike the anime, he knows better than to throw in a pantyshot at the scene’s most dramatic point. Did I mention how wonderful it is there are even legitimately dramatic parts in the first place? Because that’s a good thing. Certainly one that makes it more enjoyable.

Overall: 8
Despite its shortcomings, R+V Season II is still an incredibly fun manga, and a large improvement over Season I. Everything is better; the story, the art, the characters, the fanservice. It’s a stretch to call it great, but it’s definitely very good.

Posted in Fantasy

Toriko

Posted on by leyano
Image result for toriko manga"

Summary:
In the world where the taste and texture of food are very important, there is Toriko, a hunter of precious foods regularly hired by restaurants and the rich. He’s a man with the inhuman skills necessary to capture the ferocious, evasive, and rare animals to complete his ultimate dinner course! His current accomplice is a weak, timid person who was inspired by Toriko’s greatness and accompanies him on all his journeys on his quest for the course of his life.

Note: Was nominated for the 2nd Manga Taisho Award in 2009.

Author: Shimabukuro Mitsutoshi

I bet you’re wondering “how can a shounen about food be interesting?”. I thought the same thing until I read it, and honestly it completely blew my expectations away… at first. I’ll explain what I mean later

Pros:
– Unique concept and setting (Can you name another battle manga about food?)
– Godly world building. Seriously, it’s one of the best in manga
– Amazing art, with brutal action sequences
– The hype is over 9000!!

These are the only pros I can think of for Toriko unfortunately, because i felt this series had a lot more flaws.

Plot (3/10)
The story takes place in the Gourmet age, a world where people live and explore various delicious food to eat. Our main protagonist Toriko, and his partner Komatsu explore the world to find rare and exquisite ingredients, to accomplish Toriko’s dream of creating the best full course meal. Toriko’s the gourmet hunter who searches for the food and defeats any opponents that comes their way, meanwhile Komatsu’s the chef who prepares the food.

The plot is simple and repetitive e.g. Toriko and co. go on a quest to find a food-> Toriko arrives and has to fight some monster who doesn’t actually give af about the food-> villains shows up, Toriko fights them and wins-> Toriko gets a powerup from eating said food, then decides if he’ll put it on his full course. Rinse and repeat for 300+ chapters and you have Toriko.

[Warning spoilers]

Characters (4/10):
There’s a diverse, large cast of characters, but they lack basic characterization and meaningful character development. Our main characters, the four heavenly kings are just as bad in this aspect because they’re static and never really grow or change much throughout the course of the series.

Toriko is pretty much your typical shounen protagonist with nothing that really differentiates him to other shounen MCs. My problem with Toriko is he’s mindnumingly generic. Toriko will always do what’s right because of how righteous and kind hearted he is. He shares too many similarities to Goku e.g. Toriko loves fighting, he’s a glutton, he’s dumb but a genius at fighting and he even wears a knockoff gi outfit. Toriko is essentially Goku with blue hair.

Komatsu is our deuteragonist in the series, but we barely know much about his life. All we know is Komatsu is a weak coward who works as a chef in the famous Hotel Gourmet, that he went to chef school, he partners up with Toriko-san and goes on adventures with him and the rest of the heavenly kings.

That’s why the best written character is Midora because he’s one of the few characters who’s: fleshed out really well, has interesting abilities, a clearly defined personality and motivation, gets a proper character arc and good character development. The rest of the villains are poorly written and generic.

This brings me to my next point, the main cast become less interesting and sidelined as time went on. There’s blatant writer favouritism with Toriko who has 3 demons, yet they’re poorly explored. Before the timeskip, the 4 kings were around the same lvl, afterwards Toriko creates a large power gap and leaves them behind.

Komatsu becomes a gary sue chef e.g. any cooking competition, Komatsu’s able to prepare ingredients that would have taken 100+ yrs down to 30 mins. There’s no tension in his matches. He makes experienced chefs’ like Setsuna look like scrubs.

Enjoyment (5/10)
There’s a lot of nonsensical powerups our 4 heavenly kings receive that become forgotten after the arc they’re introduced. The calorie aspect of moves gets dropped too.

The timeskip was trash. The structure was atrocious e.g. the whole point of the timeskip got resolved during it- Komatsu got rescued. The 3 kings spent a year and couldn’t find air, yet Toriko comes back from training and finds it in less than 5 mins 🤦‍♂️

Everything goes downhill after the Pair arc. Sunny, Coco and Zebra’s journey for the main food that pertained to their dream got offscreened. That’s 3 wasted arcs. Zebra, Coco & Zebra Vs Joie got offscreened too.

There’s overused plot devices e.g. back channels, food luck. Food luck is the most nonsensical, broken ability I’ve seen in any shounen. It went from simple precognition to search for food, to characters spamming it in fights when food wasn’t even relevant. I broke down in laughter when it was revealed astral spirits was what was helping them.

Furthermore, there’s the convulted drama with Accia, the talk no jutsu turning NEO into a good ‘thing’. Many plot points were never resolved. There’s a poorly written, one sided relationship with Toriko & Rin (which made their wedding look like a joke) and missed potential with space.

Overall (4/10)
Overall, I enjoyed Toriko for what it is, which is a “fun, hype fuelled adventure story about food”. There’s not much manga where I’ve felt immersed in its world like Toriko. However, I won’t deny it went downhill after the time skip and became worse as it went on. Toriko turned into DBZ so bad with a ridiculous power escalation. It went from “Toriko and Co. are going to hunt this rare ingredient and make a dish that will make your reader’s mouth drool” to fighting some retarded Majin Buu like a blob that was going to destroy the planet because “he wants to eat it”.

Once you’ve gotten over the hype and start to analyse the story deeper, it isn’t that great. Toriko’s a mediocre shounen.

Posted in Ecchi

Love Celeb

Posted on by leyano
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Summary:
Shinjo Mayu’s newest leading lady is an idol, and the leading man is… a future prime minister!? Just what is a “Love Celeb”? Nakazono Kirara is an aspiring starlet. She used to think she’d do whatever it took to get a starring role in a drama and have a CD. But her manager, Hanamaki, proves her wrong when he sends her into a room full of horny producers to sleep her way into a role! Kirara wants no part of it! She’s a virgin, and these guys are scary!! Especially the silver-haired one named Gin… He seems to be in charge. But he lets Kirara leave the party with her virginity and his phone number, and it seems like nothing lost, nothing gained… until Kirara is suddenly the most famous new starlet for no apparent reason!? Side story in volume 7: Darenimo Ienai! Ruka’s a junior high student in love with her father’s assistant, Fumi-sempai. She wants to become an adult quickly because everyone sees her as a little kid! But what would happen if she actually became an adult with the help of a time machine?

Author: Shinjo Mayu

Need to get this out while it’s fresh in my mind.

Love Celeb is the story of Nakazono Kirara’s journey through the entertainment industry. This is a story that flip flops itself so much that the only thing that is constant from beginning to end is the single minded slutty focus throughout the entire series.

Story: 4/10
I gave this a 4 because the story doesn’t even stay in the same tone it was when it began. It begins with Kirara’s manager pushing for her to have sex with as many influential people as she can and then flips to where every bishie in the series is trying to get a piece of that ass. It is very inconsistent and it seems that sensei is trying to come up with random plot elements towards the end to fill things up. The series sputters at the end as it dies.

Art: 9/10
I enjoyed the art. The males, as per any shoujo manga look pretty and ethereal, while our main heroine is rather plain looking in comparison. The backgrounds, when they are not non existent due to the constant sexing, are well drawn.

Character: 5/10
The characters are my main gripe with this series. Gin, our main hero is a COMPLETE asshole and potential rapist in the making, and he basically terrorizes Kirara until she gives into him and his whims. And the manager encourages Kirara to sleep with any influential man and whore herself out in chapter 1. Kirara herself is a complete spineless character without the ability to say no. Around chapters 20-25, the series shifts focus and ALL of the characters seem to do a complete 180 and any of the personality traits (except for Kirara) that they had in the beginning switch. It’s, I feel, rather a cop out.

Enjoyment/Overall: 7/10

I feel that this series is basically something that you should read if you want to:
1. Read almost porn, but don’t want viruses
2. Are waiting for your favourite release to come out.
If you are not bored and have nothing better to do, skip over this, if not the comedy and outright audacity of the leads will keep you engaged for a little while.

Posted in Drama

Black Bird

Posted on by leyano
Image result for black bird manga"

Summary:
The world is full of mysterious “things,” but life keeps on going peacefully because no one can see them–except Misao. Harada Misao has the special power to see these “things,” but she doesn’t tell anybody and tries to continue leading a happy high school life. Though she’s jealous of her friends who have boyfriends, she’s just like a normal teenage girl as she keeps having dreams about a boy she met when she was younger who has the same power as she does. Her mundane life suddenly changes when goblins try to eat her, and her old friend Kyo comes back to protect her from them. Then, she finds out that she is personally being sought out as monster food and that Kyo is a monster, too. Will she still marry him like they promised when they were children, based on her faith in him that he has no bad intentions towards her? Will she even be safe at school now that Kyo has become her new homeroom teacher? Her exciting teenage life is just about to begin.

Author: Sakurakouji Kanoko

Story: 7/10
I really thought this manga was just a silly romance manga with little to no story that I would just read in order to pass time. Well, honestly the story is actually pretty cool and unique. The supernatural aspect mixed with romance was well structured and captivating. Yes, it tends to be very sexual and kinda throws the topic of rape in there a lot, but they mix it in the story where it doesn’t seem forced (plus if there’s a guy and a girl in love, they’re most likely going to have sex and make out a lot and not just a few times like in other romance manga). If the story was more of a shounen and built on more, it really would have been very engrossing even more so and more mature (mature not only in the sense of sex and stuff).

Art: 9/10
The art was really nice and the artist rarely or ever got lazy in chapters. It was vibrant and detailed enough sort of like a shoujo and shounen manga’s art put together if you know what I mean.

Character: 8/10
I loved pretty much all of the characters in this manga, especially the main characters. Well, the female protagonist, Misao, was very annoying and whiny and cried way too much, but she redeemed herself in many ways and it’s actually hard to completely hate her because she’s like a lovable puppy (kinda like Nana Komatsu). All the important characters were built on well and all had their own background stories shown (even if it was just briefly). Every character in this series has their own funny and/or honorable trait to them that it just makes it too hard to despise them.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I do have complaints about this manga, but I really enjoyed it. It was a fun read that had quite an unexpected plot twist that keeps you on edge. It’s a manga I’m truly glad I read and has a special place on my future manga bookshelf.

Posted in Action

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (Assassination Classroom)

Posted on by leyano
Image result for ansatsu kyoushitsu manga"

Summary:
The story is about class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Middle School where every morning they greet their sensei with a massive firing squad. The sensei is a weird combination of an alien and an octopus that moves at speeds of Mach-20. It turns out this creature was responsible for the destruction of the moon, rendering it forever in a crescent shape. He has announced that he will destroy the world in one year. The creature will teach class 3-E how to assassinate him before the year is over.

Author: Matsui Yuusei

Truly the best manga ever created.This is by far the most enjoyable manga of all time. If you are a school student, this series has got to be the most relatable for your time. If you are not a school student, then you may be able to relive your moments as a school student. The length of the manga is appropriate to the complex storyline that in encompasses. It is really a nice way to enjoy the introduction of characters and see how they are developed before moving on to the core elements of the plot.

Story: 10/10
The story is amazing. As I have said earlier, it is about a school, with a slight twist of assassination. The story may seem out of this world initially, with the concept of the assassination within a classroom setting preposterous. However, the assassination does not get in the way of the values that lie therein, which strike me deeper than any other manga. Being a student in Singapore, the pressure of school is immense, with the concept of “The Survival Of The Fittest”, which is exactly what this series tackles, surprisingly. On top of that, there is an element of strategy; the way you should think in order to outsmart somebody stronger than you. What could be better than all that packed nicely into one comedic comic? Hence, despite the initial plot twist about the assassination, which itself is quite appropriate, the plot is nothing more than a school setting with core values that will touch your heart. This is certainly one you will never forget.

Art: 10/10
I declare myself an expert in the art after reading Bakuman and so the following could be accepted fairly well. Personally, I feel that the art matches perfectly with the joyful times of school, and so it is still pretty enjoyable. Also, I am sure that the art is good enough for its time period. Characters are drawn well enough and the action scenes are beautifully created; it is quite clear, and you can feel the actions running through the panels. Hence, the art manages to balance out the serious moments and hilarious moments.

Character: 10/10
Interesting character developments as you get to know the characters a lot more, along with the current position that they are facing. Over the course of the manga, you will discover that there is more to it than just assassination, but being a class, united. With the characters in place, the manga tackles issues such as teacher-student relationships, student-peer relationships, and to lesser extent family relationships. As the class is a big one, it would naturally be true if not all the characters get enough showtime, and that is perfectly fine. By focusing on two of the class members and having the rest as actively supporting them, you can feel that it is exactly like a classroom setting.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I have thoroughly enjoyed this manga, being a student myself. Each chapter covers something new that adds an interesting twist, keeping you engaged with it all the way. With the values taught in this show, as well as the continuously funny scenes which never bore me out, this has got to be the best manga ever created.

Overall: 10/10
As I have said, this is truly a masterpiece, and to all of you students out there, this is something that you have to read. Stunning, just stunning. You have got to read it for yourselves to find out. For those who have read this far, here’s a piece of advice: take it slow, you don’t want this series to end that quickly.