Variante

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I decided to read Variante on a whim and it was an entertaining read. Nothing groundbreaking or particularly original, but it was certainly entertaining and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bloody horror manga that is driven by the characters.

The art is solid with a distinctive style that has aged well - Sugimoto makes each of the central characters look distinct and unique and does a stellar job drawing Aiko's arm, the Chimera and all the gore that comes along with them. I believe the art shines best when drawing the monstrous enemies and in the characters' expressions, all of which suit the ... situation and the characters' own personalities.

Speaking of the characters, Aiko is very well written, reacting to circumstances exactly how you would expect a traumatized teenage girl to react. The rest of the main cast suffer from inconsistency on occasion but are otherwise solidly written and any minor characters just don't appear enough to have a real personality beyond their roles. The villains are pretty flat and have no depth beyond being assholes, while allies are either nudged to the side to focus on Sudou, Aiko and Kochigawa or appear too late in to get adequate screentime. In general, when attention is paid to the characters and their development, it's satisfying and believable.

The story is, as said above, nothing exceptional or unique. The story is a standard formula with very few twists put in place; If you're familiar with stories with this premise, you'll see everything coming from a mile away which does put a damper on enjoyment. The handful of more original plot threads put in place felt shoehorned in for drama, or because they realized they had no explanation for something.

Overall, it's a solid manga. I recommend it if you're a fan of series with similar premises and don't have a weak stomach.

This is my first review (yay!) so please bear with me.

I finished reading Variante in a week time... Which means i really liked it!
Even though the story isn't that original, what struck me was the psyche of the characters, especially the main ones,which portraied masterfully, inspiring deed thoughts about life and righteousness of the methods used seeking the truth.

About visuals, there were times where I stared at some panels just admiring the expressions and details. The gore was a bit excessive at times,so much so, I couldn't even make out what was going on, fortunately these panels were enough far apart from each others not ... to make it annoying.

As for downsides, the story is the weakest point of all; likely due to the low number of chapters, interactions between the characters feel rushed and unrealistic (at the end I was like: "Oh! So there was a love story!").

In the end:
+ points: amazing art style - points: predictable story
Really good character introspection. Unrealistic interactions
Action, blood and gore YEAH!

So, if you want a short, powerful read with action but still like a bit of psychological thriller this is for you.

Thanks for reading!

Horror and tragedy genre fans should try this manga,it isn't one of the best out there but it was good.

1-Story (7):-
Though it's a short manga,the pacing didn't seem too fast for me,it was ok but some events really did suddenly escalated (especially in the last chapters).
i liked the story but i was i bit upset from the last volume.

2- Art (6)
Suitable art for a tragedy story,the terrified facial expression of the characters were very good,but some panel seemed to be unclear for me...especially in an battle panel,i couldn't exactly tell what is going on until i read the next panel or page.

3- Character (7)
well i ... don't want to talk much about this,but the personality of the main characters was pretty good,especially Aiko.


4- Enjoyment (5)
Honestly speaking i was focused on completing this series as soon as possible so i didn't enjoy this work so much but i didn't hate it