Ranked #5016

Yakuza Girl (Manga)

Put briefly, this manga tries to fit too much into too small a space. The reader, like the hero, is shoved headlong into a whirlwind of death, gang warfare, and naked flesh. The pacing never really slows down to explain what's going on, so by the time you figure out what is going on, the story is over. The school setting seems forced, because it's a stretch that a prestigious facility housing over 3000 would be able to hide such a high death rate. With the tests not only allowing or encouraging, but requiring stundents to kill each other, the premise seems intended solely to deliver shock value.

The problem with Yakuza Girl's plot is it tries to be three different stories in only eleven chapters, and because of this, it doesn't ever really get enough time to build them up to the level where the reader can get involved in them. Foremost the story wants to be a romance between Senguu and Akari, but there isn't much making them a compelling couple, partly because it is made clear that Senguu's reason for transferring is to find a wife and he spontaneously proposes to Akari after meeting her. Akari, for her role, does make a more gradual transition from stranger to lover. That they both improve to the point that they are able to protect each other is nice, as well, but it still feels like a hollow romance.

The second plot thread that the manga tries to spin is Senguu's rise from defenseless loser to ultimate hero. Unlike shonen heroes, he isn't trying to become the best for the sake of being the best, but to protect his new bride-to-be. Still, like usual, this growth in strength comes in the form of (highly lethal) battles with increasingly strong enemies, and there's not much reason to care about Senguu. Have I also mentioned that the villains are usually disgustingly monstrous?

The final aspect of the plot, and the one that would benefit most from more time to develop, is the infighting between the various clans and the apocalyptic conspiracy that makes Senguu so important. At least, I think it was an apocalyptic conspiracy, unless it was trying to stop the apocalypse. And that's the problem: there are about a dozen characters that show up for short periods of time with preexisting conflicts, grudges, motives, and machinations, but by the time one is explained, the story is already dealing with the threat of the next. The finale, especially, is confusing because it is only half explained.

The artwork, like the plot, is very busy. Battles in particular can be confusing to follow because of the constant motion and various effects, abilities, and technique names. Female characters are frequently at least half naked or suffer massive clothing damage and drawn to be alluring and overtly sexual. Males vary from generic to massive and intimidating, while the monster forms of people are detailed almost to stomach-churning levels of revulsion.

Characterization suffers from lack of development, because after cramming in the plot and fights, there's not much time left over for anything else, and so characters are mainly defined by appearance and their specific abilities. This would make remembering who's who difficult, except only four or five characters really matter for the plot.

Ultimately, whether you like this manga or not comes down to whether you're looking for some quick sex and violence (there's no explicit intercourse, but there are two near rapes). If you enjoyed Tenjou Tenge, but thought it spent way too much time in the flashback, this story is worth a look. It won't take long to read, anyway.

One final comment: the ending seems to have some sort of deeper message tucked into that wouldn't feel so awkward if the whole story hadn't been so eager to embrace killing everyone with little provocation. read more

To be completely fair; this manga was quite the fast paced sucker. It's only 11 chapters long, and after having finished it I am certain that next week I will have completely forgotten this manga and it's title.

It's not that it's not entertaining; it's more so that it's rushed, unfinished, confusing and tries to make every genre fit in perfectly; which it doesn't.

There's is a lot of nudeness being thrown around together with monstrous fellows creeping around. The whole setting is supposed to be gore, shocking and ecchi; with themes like rape and nudity in between a lot.

However, in my opinion the setting failed. Because it was all so rushed; the gore wasn't shocking and the story wasn't well explained. Explained, exactly... most things were confusing as hell. It's like seeing an apple three, knowing it's an apple three, but it for some random reason just not being an apple three but a building in stead. See what I'm getting at, it just doesn't make sense. I don't mean that the art is hard to describe or that it's hard to make things out of it. It is more so that scenes are so fast and drastic, that before you put your finger on it and understand what's going on, the next scene is already nearing it's end. In this same pace, this fast and confusing pace, the 11 chapters are finished before you realize it. Only for it be forever forgotten after. Which is a shame, I didn't particularly disliked this manga and it's setting.

But the lack of explanation and development is inexcusable, and therefor I can't say I really have an opinion about this manga. It's like watching a full length two hour movie, sleep through it for over an hour and then in the end after waking up saying it sucks. That's the feeling I get Yakuza Girl, even though I did finish through it completely. It is too biased, fast, confusing, lacks too much and there is no real connection with any of the characters as they all did not develop much. Neither did the characters get any introduction; so you only remember every character by face.

The story focuses mainly on the two main characters love; which by the way, isn't all that bad. It was quite romantic and probably the best this manga has to offer. But yet again this too lacked. It's like they didn't know each other; they just love each other out of impulse. Well, his feelings towards her at least. She, Akari, however had been through some developments and actually changed/developed throughout the end. But despite the authors effort, it is still an empty shell; their romance, that is.

The ending was just like the overall story rushed; I still don't really get what's going on or what their reasonings are. Sure it is explained, it just doesn't make much sense.

I wouldn't advice this manga to anyone, neither would I tell you not to read it. It's short, it's ok and you pass time with it. If possible though, find a different manga to read. This manga is especially recommended to people who like gore fighting scenes and/or sexual content/nudity. There is a lot of nudity going on; such as nipples showing in almost every chapter. There isn't much sexual content however; to my idea there have been a few near rapes and two sex involvements/scenes in this manga; though not shown in more than one or two shots. I'm not sure however, I wasn't clear on the pictures shown in the manga. Yet again, confusing. However, ecchi/gore likers/lovers should probably be able to read through these 11 chapters like crazy while enjoying a boob in every chapter being thrown at them (you perhaps?). read more