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Jan 8, 2023
Despite this being a comedy manga about really dumb badasses partaking in nonsensical jokes, written by someone whose music tastes would probably make him friends with Araki, I couldn't help but being occasionally reminded of Blue Spring while reading it.
It starts off really well with a lot of unexplained hilarious incidents, things like the school having a mute Freddie (Mercury) character, but that sentiment wears off along the way as, at 17 volumes, Cromartie just missed its chance to end. Over-repetition of jokes, more and more additions to the cast, plot points that are completely forgotten (whatever happened to the sumo club guys?), there was
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even an entire volume dedicated to a planet of the apes rip-off!
I really commend the author for managing to make 17 fucking volumes of gags in a setting with absolutely no plot and no sense of GETTING ANYWHERE. That shit's hard. But at the same time, there was a lot of boring stuff (lol) along the way.
When I was in the first half of this series I wrote "The wide cast of characters in tandem with the nonsensical nature of this manga allows for some good joke variety. I mean, I can read almost a full volume of this in a row and not get tired, unlike other comedy series which, no matter how good they are, keep repeating the same jokes with only a handful of different characters." I suppose I was thinking of The Way Of The Househusband as a comparison. In truth I generally am not a big fan of comedy.
But the thing is, while that was true at the beginning, I'm not so sure it held up towards the end. It did start to feel like the same jokes were repeating over and over again, especially when it came to Fujimoto. Somehow the mascot trick still worked even at that point and Banchou-san was a delight, but it didn't save the series.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the uniqueness of Cromartie High School. The occasional jokes that left you wondering "hold up, is this meant to be a comment at the series itself?", and other meta moments were great (loved the story about the second masked guy showing up!). The decision to completely ditch the main plot in the first handful of chapters was very powerful. And the chapters about the author himself always brought a fun change of setting.
I'd say it's worth checking out!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 11, 2022
Volumes 1-23 review: 4/5
This is probably my 3rd time reading through the whole series (counting with the webcomic). ONE once again delivers a great story with very good humour and, this time, with some complex world-building and a much wider cast of characters. Combine all that with Murata's great art and intense desire to make 90% of the characters as sexy as he can and it can only be a good manga.
Do I wish that the panelling was more varied? Do I prefer some aspects of the webcomic over the manga? Do I take offence at all the fanboys raving about how Murata is the
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best artist ever? Yes, yes, and yes, but in the end this is still a very good adaptation and I'm immensely glad that ONE got the chance to invest more in expanding this world through the manga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 11, 2022
Now this is a true romantic tragedy. Marie Antoinette's end is widely known, and yet as you read through this historic drama you'll often forget the looming dark clouds over her and Fersen. The addition of another main character, Lady Oscar (good luck not being charmed by her) with her own love story ends up working as a parallel to the queen's life. Another person who can't follow the desires of the heart, but unlike the queen she has more freedom, having grown up as a man, and ultimately following the revolution through another lens.
I used to watch the anime with my mum when I
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was really young, it was one of those late evening series. Yes, the drama can get repetitive but for me it was truly moving to finally read Rose of Versailles and experience such an emotional tale.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 11, 2022
Gorgeous art and a great way to revisit and revamp concepts, characters, and places from previous JoJo parts (you could probably explain most of JoJolion with JoJo callbacks).
In JoJolion almost all of the stands are quite simple, with no time bs or super convoluted powers that need some 6 chapters of "who shot johnny?". Up until the last 10 chapters or so, everyone has a stand that follows simple rules (JoJo's may be an exception because of the usual "make it up as you go" Araki style but it's not too bad). And so every fight is about finding the weakness of your opponent or
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getting away until you have a better match-up.
Because this is Morioh, we're back to more average people like part 4. There's really no fighting for "honour" or some "great cause", no "true man's world"... these are normal people trying to help their family members, get revenge on someone, get rich, etc. They do normal relationship stuff, they go to the hospital, care for a son, bet a golden Lamborghini on a beetle fight, you know? They feel much more like normal people than living allegories or concepts, which is what I felt about many characters of previous parts. One thing is not better than the other but it sure is a refreshing change.
Additionally, it's nice to see JJBA take on other types of more mature themes. No don't worry this isn't "everyone has a tragic rape backstory" 2.0, but it's like, there's references to porn, and we see/hear of some intimate bits of relationships. Also, this is probably the most nuanced JoJo when it comes to having a love interest. In parts 1,2 the girl was mostly a plot point or an afterthought, here genderbent Koichi is an important character with her own growth.
Loved the Higashikata family dynamics and lastly, Soft & Wet looks like a good boy and I lost my shit when it brutally murdered a woman with a shovel.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 11, 2022
Souichi's a godawful brat but he's also quite the interesting character. He's got the whims of a kid and he's not the good guy, two things which aren't common for a Ito-sensei MC. I couldn't even really dislike him because he'd occasionally just be relatable.
In addition, he's a character we've already met in Voices In The Dark and New Voices In The Dark even though it was under.... different circumstances, let's leave it at that.
Again, Ito-sensei manages to mix comedy into his horror! Reading episodes of the lives of a family and classroom where there's this weirdo kid who really believes he can put curses
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on people, with a bit of the otherworldly added in for drama, was very enjoyable.
I especially like the "terrifying inhuman model" character, Fuchi. Seeing her here explains her appearance in the Voices In The Dark books I guess. I really wish we could learn more about her? Like, how did she get into that magazine even? Why exactly does Souichi imagine himself marrying her in the other books? Because from the cliffhanger endings of the stories here you wouldn't be blamed if you believed she killed him.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 11, 2022
Long time reader, volumes 1-31 review: 4/5
Black Butler has been a guilty pleasure of mine for many many years. The premise is of a kid in the victorian era, Ciel, who was kidnapped and tortured, his family murdered, his estate burned to the ground. And, when his kidnappers sacrifice him to summon a demon, said demon forms a lifelong contract with Ciel, where he'll do anything Ciel wants as long as he stays on the path of revenge. When Ciel gets revenge on his torturers, his soul will be eaten. Fairly interesting, right?
Throughout the years, the story has had many arcs, some more comedic, some
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more serious, some with... dubious content choices (a boy band arc? really? in victorian england???). But let's be fair, a lot of people got into this by sheer desire of wanting to see pretty people do cool things. And that we surely keep getting. Additionally, Toboso's art has only gotten better, less stylized, more detailed. Clothing and backgrounds are just as gorgeous as everyone's favourite demon butler.
Lately the story has kept a more serious tone and gotten more complicated (which I love!). There might even be an ending in sight.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 11, 2022
Volumes 1-6.80 review: 4.5/5
This is a great series about a spy who needs to have a fake wife and daughter for a very important long-term mission. Agent Twilight ends up adopting a little girl, Anya, (who's secretly a telepath and thought having a spy dad was the shit) and has a sham marriage with Yor (who's secretly an assassin and wanted to blend in with her peers better, remaining single would eventually be suspicious).
Neither of them tells the others about their secret identities and so only little Anya knows what's up.
In fact, a lot of the story is told from her POV as she's made
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to go to some prestigious school so that Twilight can have an excuse to approach his target. A lot of the drama in this series is what I'd call people drama, it's kind of a slice of life. Anya has troubles at school, Twilight/Loid has to fake being married while undertaking side-missions all the time, Yor tries to become a good wife while secretly carrying out her commissions.
The art style is great, it's emotive, it's stylized, many of the characters look like caricatures in the style of Dishonored. The setting seems to be something based on cold war era centre/eastern europe? The whole thing is very wholesome and light-hearted. A lot of the politics and spy issues are played for laughs and even if characters talk about the horrors of war in more serious moments, we never dwell on that too much.
Really looking forward to seeing where this series will go. And the best part? You can read it as it comes out on Manga PLUS for free.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 11, 2022
Long time reader, volumes 01-26 review: 4/5
I really like Kato's style, the world she came up with here, the lore, the character development throughout time. But especially her style. I remember being a teen and going "wow this is so cool! Look at the way the demons look! Omg the landscapes and buildings are amazing!". To be honest, that feeling still stands as of today.
As usual, following the series as it comes out ends up being confusing, especially when it has so many side character with interconnected stories (main reason I'm not giving this 5/5, I just can't remember where some of my issues with
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the story come from). There's still no clear ending in sight but the ride has sure been worth it. Have I talked about how you follow the growth of a bunch of people here? How some of them have their edges smoothed as they mature? How some, outcasts since early on, find friends to rely on? I want to see where Kato is going to take this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 11, 2022
Volumes 1-4 review: 3.5/5
Some of the fanservice early on rubbed me the wrong way, and it's so far hard to tell where this story is going (if anywhere). So far it's mostly a slice of life, while some things imply some sort of overarching plot going on.
The concept however is fucking great. This teen girl can see all sorts of dangerous(?) and powerful spirits, which no one can, and she's absolutely terrified, but she tries to pretend everything's fine in hopes that the spirits will not harm her. Occasionally she gets to help others out in matters of lost family members and there's some heart-warming
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moments but mostly this poor girl is just suffering and trying to find help.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 11, 2022
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a huge fan of thrillers. I will read them if recommended but do not actively seek them out. Usually they need a good gimmick to grab my attention and even then I tend to get lost in the sea of characters or things don't make much sense or the MC isn't likeable.
Monster doesn't have much going in way of a gimmick. Unlike Death Note with its fantasy aspects and drama, Monster is played very straight. It is very distinctly european and uses a setting that hasn't been overdone for me: what we now know as Germany
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shortly before the Berlin Wall fell, and some years after.
The main plot has a lengthy introduction where we become acquainted with Dr Tenma, an exceptional brain surgeon working abroad who, one day, decides to man up and commit to his ideals as a doctor and save a random kid instead of the mayor, which backfires tremendously as you'd expect. And then it backfires some more as the superiors admonishing him drop dead and the kid vanishes.
However, this strange incident goes unsolved for 10 years. 10 years of sitting in the back of people's minds, the problem persisting out of view, growing ever so bigger. And then it resurfaces again at Dr Tenma's hospital. And the guy, whose number 1 personality trait is being a good samaritan (number 2 is being the best brain surgeon), gets himself involved again, tries to help, and gets to see first hand the real consequences of his actions all those years ago. Now, with the authorities accusing him of crimes both old and new and no way of explaining himself out of them, Dr Tenma goes on the run, to understand just who or what was the patient that he shouldn't have saved and come to terms with the fallout of his one choice all those years ago.
During his travelling and investigating, we get to meet many many characters who were tangentially involved. They don't overstay their welcome, and even I, who am terrible with names and faces, barely got confused (but I did get confused sometimes which is my one complaint). There are plenty of interesting side arcs, and it always feels like we're learning something new about this kid patient, but it also always feels like we were just short of reaching the truth. Which leads to a plot which always feels like it's going somewhere, definitely forward, but through a very long road of twists and turns and offshoots to dead ends.
I seriously recommend this series. Push it into the hands of people who hate manga and tell them to treat it like a western comic book, because this kind of story would totally work as some German thriller series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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