Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai

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**Updated to the 24th chapter.

Reading light novels aren't as boring as most people think. Most light novels depend on storytelling (like Hyouka), emotions (like Sword Art Online), or just plain laughter (like Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu) to get its messages across. Most of the time, if the writing (or in my case, the translating) is well done, the messages sent are pretty clear.

However, there are times when the light novels delivers some messages that aren't as easily delivered as romance, or jokes, or whatnot. Take Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai, for example. The light novel's heavily based on action scenes that require your imagination to ... appreciate fully. But let's face it; sometimes it's really hard to visualize something you only read, especially if it's combat sequences. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they made a manga out of the light novel.

And by all means, this manga delivers an experience far better than the light novel.

Story: 8/10
The story is set sometime after the advent of the Industrial Revolution. In this world, the leading technology was not simply steam-powered machines, but rather automatons. The common types run on pistons and gears and are similar in function to those robots from the Jetsons; the elaborate types are used by so-called "puppeteers" and are used for combat, law enforcement and the like.

The main character, Akabane Raishin, and his automaton Yaya (who conspicuously looks more like a girl than an automaton) set off from the Orient to the automaton capital of the world, Walpurgis, set in a fictional England.

The story kicks off this way, and I must say the background is something quite unexplored before. To fuse fictional elements into already existing historical accounts is a gamble sometimes (proven by some failures of fictionalizing Japanese history), but this manga manages to win in the gamble by exploring a setting rarely used in Japanese media: Europe, and specifically, England during the Industrial Revolution. It's seemingly the perfect setting for the story to kick in.

Development is sometimes erratic in the story, but the pacing is often times at the right timing.

Art: 9/10
In reading manga, art is a necessary advantage in order to win readers. This manga manages to hit two birds with one stone. By utilizing character designs so clean males are worthy of bishoujo manga while girls appeal to the "kawaii" seekers out there, the manga retains its fresh ambiance. Mix this in with action and combat sequences worthy of a mainstream shounen manga fanbase, and you've got yourself a winner.

I honestly didn't expect this manga to be this catchy; nevertheless I was instantly hooked. Combat sequences make sense, and are not too technical (there's little to expound on; it's set during the Industrial Revolution, after all).

Character: 8/10
If anything, this is the manga's weakest point. The lead character, Akabane Raishin, is a man of seemingly endless bravado, but is completely a blockhead in emotional matters. Call it the "stereotypical cool-but-clueless" type, but he really fits in the story, especially if you meet his automaton Yaya.

Yaya, on the other hand, is... well... assertive. Very, very assertive. In combat? Yes, very skilled. I think she's the most flamboyant close-combat fighter I've seen. In romance? Ah... you hit a landmine. She's very assertive in her desire to "make memories with Raishin inside the futon." Although Raishin blatantly rejects her each time, she still keeps it up. It's entertaining, really.

And them other characters? Not much can be said. We have the complementary tsundere, the vengeful senpai, the quiet type, the oniichan, among others. Every other character seems bland compared to the two leads, who are doing a pretty good job of raising the standards of the manga in terms of character development.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I'll be honest here; I really enjoyed this manga. It's cute, it's funny, and it's darn action-packed. There's also little nitbits of other genres here and there, that seemingly mash together in this relatively young manga in harmony. This rating's a little biased, but I think it's for good reason.

Overall: 8/10
Like I said, it's relatively young for a manga. With barely 25 chapters in, there's lots of room for change or improvement. Will it turn out better? Worse? Who knows; that'll be for the light novel to decide. For now, it's certainly an entertaining read for all of you out there who are looking for great fight sequences (or cute girls, whichever you prefer). Certainly, KSK is something that stands out in some points, and is lackluster in others, but in overall is a manga worthy of a few hours of your time, and is certainly worthy to keep tabs of.

Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai, this manga that kind of surprised me with the overall content of it. This is a Harem manga so i checked it out on manga-fox (a very good site for English manga). This manga is set in the 20th century, so for it to be good there has to be some history knowledge, there is a lot of other manga that used the same period of time but the information is ether wrong or very hard to get. This did something very different, it went all the way to England.

Story 7/10
The story i think is the draw down bit of this ... manga, why? Well the story revolves around the main character Raishin Akabane looking for someone that had a past with him (don't want to spoil too much), but in order to do so he has to get stronger. So all he do is mainly fight, he has this bravado that just seems to pick on fights with everyone. Some might like this kind of story line but for me it sometimes gets very boring just watching him pick fights with everyone.

Art 10/10
When reading a manga the art is a very important aspect of the manga and also why you like it or why you don't. In this manga i think the character drawing is one of the best drawings i have ever seen. The boys are clean and good looking enough for a modal show and the girls are just "Kawaii" all the way. The instant i saw this manga drawing i i got addicted to it. Normally when i see a very good drawing manga there is always one bit of it that isn't good enough for the rest, for example the lips or the moment when a girl gets embarrassed. But this does not have anything of the sort, everything is drawn to perfection and the fighting scenes is also perfect not messy, simple and easy to get. Overall one of the best i have seen in my manga reading career.

Character 9/10
The characters of this manga is set out pretty well. It is the typical set up of characters for a heavy harem themed manga. So you read enough harem manga you would know what i am saying. I personally don't really mind it being too typical, but it is too my knowledge that there are some people that doesn't like the too typical kind of girls. This kind of things is all up too personal likes. Even if it is typical the character development seems very good, nice layout and also twists to characters story and personality are also common and easy to get.

Enjoyment 10/10
No crap here, i totally enjoyed this manga to no end. The concepts of all the different genre are also mashed up and added into the manga so there is interesting development always around the corner, and it will never disappoint, plus if you like a lot of action and just straight up fighting then this is also a good manga for you. A harem lover this is also the manga for you.

Overall 9/10
Too high i don't think so, in my point of view this is a very good manga and defiantly a good read for all manga lovers. Actually at the beginning i had doubts of even downloading this manga due to the automation theme, i thought i might be a very bloody manga with very insane concepts of harem and love (a bit like Future Diaries) but thank god that i have downloaded this manga and i hope this will continue for a very long run, since i will stick with it without doubt.