Ranked #6300

En Passant (Manga)

Since I noticed a lack of reviews for this series I will be writing one, but a short one, nevertheless.

En passant is a chess move which can occur "immediately after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had it moved only one square forward. The opponent captures the just-moved pawn as if taking it "as it passes" through the first square" (Wikipedia). It makes sense for a series with Chess as the plot theme.

I had no high expectations at first and I was just expecting a nice read. But I was disappointed soon and it took no longer than a few chapters, sadly. En passant is an example of bad pacing and wasted potential filled with poorly developed clichéd characters. At the end of the last chapter I was asking myself "why did I kept reading?" for I could have seen the ending being as insipid as the water inside my glass.

What was supposed to be the last arc of the story felt bland and rushed and full of deus ex machina. The side characters had no background information and little to no development. Nothing much was said about Verde (also known as Valde, I think) and the war between dark square and withe square. The formation of En Passant felt forced and the character relationships aren't fully explored in those 20 chapters. Twenty chapters aren't a lot, I know, but as the author you can manage somehow a fair development of events, interactions and a memorable finale. Unfortunately, this is not the case here.

I don't have much to say about the art, "not good enough" would be the right expression. But I will stick to "average, ordinary" and that's it.

In short what I mean to say through this review is: En Passant has nothing to make it a memorable series and it could be a lot more than just a generic chess-themed "battle shounen" if the author (a) had the time (b) had the means (c) made it longer (d) had put more effort into it. read more

En Passant is one of your typical shonnen manga. With a bit of a twist.With having the most negative main character ever!

STORY: 7
"Verde, a powerful and secret organization that controls the world has a new leader. The only thing that stands in its way is an unlikely character, Kujou Shin, the king of pessimists. He has no attachments to anything or anyone and feels no hesitation at dying. He is unwillingly dragged into a fight for the most powerful position in the world, the leader of Verde. What will be his fate?"
Okay good enough. But to be perfectly honest I feel like I know whats going to happen.

CHARACTERS: 8
The main character is Kujou Shin. Hes the most negative main character i have seen or at least read!But surely he must have his reasons.He carries the burden of the X-Ray.But most of all, if someone tells him "die" he'll automatically turn negative and try suicide or kill himself.I've never seen this type of character so at least its unique.
But most of the other characters like Daidouji you seen them some where along the way.In my personal opinion,I thought he was just your typical annoying guy whose in love with Rui.But wait...hes part of the Light Square!I didn't see that coming!I thought once they start the battle "okay he wont appear anymore!".This truly came to a shock to me. I don't like most of the characters but they all have something different. And I like that aspect.
For me,the main character is always important. Because if I don't like him but I like story, I'd have to bear with it.But if i don't like the story and main characters,I'd stop reading the manga.

ART: 6
What can i say...is like your typical shonnen manga. Some of the characters hair makes them look like they have a big head (in my opinion of course) And I can't help but to notice it. But the art is clean and you can understand the fighting scenes. But sometimes i find the art a little bit trying so hard for it to be like shonnen. Maybe its just me.

ENJOYMENT: 6
I enjoyed it from the first time I read it but I didn't feel exited like I usually am when I read a manga I really like. And it didn't left me like "I want more!". It didn't leave me in suspense.

OVERALL: 7
I don't really hate or like this manga. But I'll read it until the end.If you like unique characters and like shonnen manga with unique aspects then this is your manga. read more