Green Worldz

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Recently, the survival genre is becoming increasingly popular. Some try to be unique (Attack on Titan, Mirai Nikki, Cage of Eden), while some simply try to emulate what has been proven to work (Danganronpa, Highschool of the Dead, Btooom!). Perhaps because of how popular the genre is getting, taking the unique route becomes increasingly difficult as more and more new ideas are used.

Which eventually caused someone to combine Jurassic Park and The Happening. I'm being serious here. This manga is about giant insects and carnivorous plants trying to eliminate the human population. So why am I rating this a 7?

When I started reading this, ... I went into it expecting an Attack on Titan ripoff, and in a way that's what I got. Humanity is brought to its knees by a change in the ecosystem. There is plenty of death and despair as well, like Attack on Titan. Fortunately, the two differ in tremendous ways.

For one, the characters are pretty interesting. A decent amount of them are multi dimensional, and the ones that aren't are probably going to be mulch soon anyways. From what I've read so far, two characters even manage to break stereotypes in a satisfying way.

The plot is the weakest point of this. I can't say much without spoiling things, but the whole plant apocalypse isn't the only thing happening. There's also some sci-fi and what appears to be supernatural elements in this as well. As all over the place as the plot is, it's still quite enjoyable, even if a bit silly at times.

The art is masterfully done. Due to the nature of the manga, the illustrator had to draw all sorts of plants and insects, and be able to believably illustrate what they would look like if they were gigantic. A lot of the panels with just humans or environment look extremely well done too, so all in all the illustrator did a great job here.

As this isn't finished, I don't want to hand out recommendations for it just yet. Once it is over or I know if the plot is going to go in a better direction I will edit my review, but right now all I can say is that I am enjoying it, and it doesn't rip off Attack on Titan nearly as much as one would think.

*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 8/10
The art had a range of meh, average, and impressive. Overall, the art was more on the below average side with a few bits that looked more average. However, there was a very noticeable change in art quality as the manga progressed. I could see that the author definitely improved their art as the series progressed which is a plus to me; I could see the improvement. The impressive art in this manga was seen in the impact shots which were used in a good amount. The impact shots were well done and very detailed. The environment and ... background art were also nice to look at. There were plenty of panoramics and art showcases that looked good. I'm not a fan of the earlier character anatomy and proportions as they looked a bit off in more than a few cases. Overall though I thought the art was good and is probably the best part about this manga.

Panel Progression: 6/10
There were a lot of flair in the panel layout. Some of the panel sequences were wild and nice to look at, especially during action and movement bits. The liberal use of panel cutting was much appreciated as well and added a nice touch to the generally bland storytelling. The pacing and clarity however were a bit off. The overall flow would change from a good pace to way too quick. Some details would be skipped as a result of the fluctuating pacing. Furthermore, there were some parts that could have used more time and clarity. I understand the time travel and whatnot twist, but the way the twist and its development were executed were a bit lacking and confusing.

Characters: 5/10
The characters were bland and one-dimensional. There was no foundation set for a lot of their motivations or personalities. The MC seemed like a cut and paste shounen teen aged boy. The female childhood friend was also cliche and nothing was done to give her any substance or diverge from the typical trope. Even the secondary female lead was typical and not much was done to make her valuable personally to the MC as well as to the overall plot and development of the story. The character designs were neat in a few bits. The older version of the MC looked cool and is a memorable look to me. The main monsters and villains too are a bit above average. Everyone else...very forgettable.

Plot & Development: 5/10
Average end-of-the world scenario with some gutsy pubescent MC. Either they're very much a human who tries to fight overwhelming odds with training and guts or they're some human who gains powers and goes down the slippery slope of fighting against the mental effects of dire state of the world and the power that may consume them. Luckily, this manga did exactly both of those which make it only average in terms of plot and development. Some examples of this setup are Dolly Kill Kill and Pygmalion which did essentially the exact same thing.

Conclusion: 5/10
A cop-out conclusion because either they had to end the series early or there wasn't enough foundation to keep the story going. It went from some linear standard development to some convoluted and poorly executed time travel development to finally a different timeline sort of thing. I feel that because the story couldn't be ended in a reasonably quick pace judging by how they initially introduced the idea of multiple hybrid-humans to where the were only able to defeat one by the end of the manga, the plot development went down this quick and easy, "Oh yeah, since we haven't actually gotten even close to saving the world in 114 chapters we're just going to save a different world in a stupid plan we're going to cover in 10 chapters."

Overall: 6/10
Average plot, below average development and conclusion, with average to impressive art. Only worth reading if you're really into the end-of-the-world setup.

One of the most boring manga experiences in recent memories. This ages like milk and it's run by a very typical post-apocalypse plot, in which the characters are annoyingly superficial and dumb. Each new text bubble appears only to make me so angry and develop a sense of hatred towards pretty much all the characters due to the captain obvious syndrome and irritating reactions. The art doesn't help much, which is unforgivably stiff and sterile even for a 2010's-ish manga. Narrative-wise it's rather unfocused and lacks any desire to brainstorm a single "compelling" hook, everything is running around and dragging for a while and then ... BAM, another meaningless and often wtf??!! encounter or fight. There're some ultra-cringey "omg bubs an gurls!!" moments that I find extremely off-putting. Overall a very mediocre manga to read, I wasn't even surprised when I found myself scrolling through all this stuff in just half an hour and rolled my eyes back the skull.