Ranked #548

Crows (Manga)

Bouya Harumichi is a new transfer student in Suzuran High, filled with hard-core delinquents that don't think studying comes up to snuff. The students there form gangs and brawl with each other for the title of TOUGHEST JACKASS (not literally, guys, but close to); some however, just hang around and kick ass on the side, not bothered with the 'kiddy' game. Unfortunately for Harumichi, his reputation started even before he officially transferred, but Hell, what's a tough guy to do?

I do, I do like the story. All head-banging-rib-punching-pipe-wielding-punks of it, it had hilarious characters made vivid by the don't-mess-with-me illustrations, who had enough attitude to over-inflate the egos of an entire highschool. After reading this, you'd wish you could fight that way too. It was fun to read of the ruckus Bouya had been apart of. You kinda wish you were part of the gang, too, ya know? But, it was still a blast to read through still be warned: you have to be a little consistent and read it. No "a chapter a day", no "I only have time for this many chapters" and definitely, no "this is boring, even though I just read half a page, I'm still dropping it".

The art was spectacular and added a great feel to the story [it felt real bad-ass], the illustrator gave great attention to give each character an image that fit their personality. It was (HUZZAH!) proportional and (DOUBLE HUZZAH!) shaded. With the number of huzzah's you may have had the tiniest inkling that it rocked, {and you maybe just right}.

The enjoyment level was great, it had light-hearted humour and was filled with waves of honourable moments (some of you maybe thinking "what does THIS MEAN??!", I mean read it {you know you really want to...}) and scenes filled with ass-kicking. You really don't want to miss this.

So would I recommend it...

Okay, I'm gon' tell ya da truth. Until volume 6 beginning of chapter 21, the Manga kicked (multiple) asses, but (yes, there is a but) I don't know about the to-die fans of the series but after chapter 20, the story kinda ended (at least for me) and chapter 21 was more like an epilogue to tell you the truth. Sure, officially the story didn't end there but I felt closure and not only that, if you continue to the end of chapter 21, I dunno, I felt something missing from the characters and plot. The battle was won, objective completed, I was thinking more on the lines of 'stand down, soldier. Your job is done. You can go home' type of ending rather than a continuation.

But Heck, that's just me.

Nevertheless, it is a great Manga and only fruitcake punkasses wouldn't read this (no offence to fruitcakes, but I'm more of a not-a-big-fan-of-fruitcake person). So if you wanna see sick art, funny characters and a good plot to boot: I invite you to read this story of a transfer student that didn't know what hit 'em. read more

This manga took a long time to grow on me. I would occasionally try to read it, since I love delinquent manga, and give up after three or five chapters. Once I got past that, though, I realized what I was missing. This is considered a classic of delinquent manga for a reason, after all.

The story that exists is mostly a shonen-style parade of fights. Literally, one fight after another, with glimpses of character development in between. The fights themselves are pretty damn awesome, covering everything from full out gang rumbles to one on ones. However, unlike most shonen, the parade of fights makes sense, since everyone's goal is to become the strongest of the strong, the toughest of the tough, baddest of the bad, you name it. And by everyone, I mean everyone. There are practically no characters who AREN'T a delinquent who show up in this manga. No teachers, normal students, random salarymen, etc. except for some quick gags. There are downsides, though: the sometimes boring exposition about gangs and their members and movements (the delinquent equivalent of Dragon Ball Z-esque exposition about techniques and power levels.) but there's often a saving touch of humor in the characters to get you through. It starts out seeming overly serious and complicated in the first arc, but once you get past that the story really picks up and never drops the ball.

Not only that, but the glimpses of character development are better handled than a lot of manga with a similar storytelling structure, making you actually care about the characters who are fighting. The characters themselves are nothing short of brilliant. You wouldn't expect a cast of nothing but delinquents aiming for the top to have variety, but there's a surprising amount; brash and hilarious Bouya, reserved and brooding Rindaman, charismatic Bulldog, etc. The other thing about these characters is that they actually develop in between and during fights: the reveal of Bouya's unexpectedly caring side, Bulldog's transformation from a goofy one-shot character into a powerful leader; his Kurotaki Alliance's transformation from a ragtag mishmash of his former foes into a group of real friends, etc., etc., and so forth.

The first impression you get of this manga may be an overly serious focused troop movements sort of thing, but eventually the characters manage to sneak in their charm, so keep reading! read more