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Jul 16, 2011
A manga you can ignore if you're not into it for the art.
Neiru2012 pretty much brought up all of my distaste for this manga but I think it's unfair to over-simplify Vagabond using spoiler cases.
That is because Vagabond can simply be said to be Shamo set in a samurai period using a famous character like Mushashi.
***Skip to the last paragraph for summary***
This isn't so much saying one is a clone of the other or that one came before the other or that others came before these two.
It's simply my way of attempting to provide a low review without taking away what the manga is by
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focusing on the specific spoiler designs.
Yes, Vagabond has a plot. Yes, Vagabond has characters. Yes, Vagabond's art is on one end great and on the other end requiring a certain taste.
Yet beyond all of these, none of these is what makes or breaks Vagabond.
The plot while a modified romanticized version still is stuck with the predictability of who Musashi is as a historical character.
The characters whether you find them generic or not is still not about them but about their way of fighting clashing with another way of fighting. While you can say manga/anime generally does this with fight scenes including such things like Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X where it already borders on heavy handed, Vagabond goes beyond this. Not just subtlety. It only makes the scenes an actual fight scene so that you as a reader will still be excited to read it and it would satisfy those "awesome shiny fight scenes" reader but it is a true and true manga where the art invades everything and if it's not the art, it's the lack of a plot. It is almost Zen-like in that it portrays the conclusion of each plot as there being no plot.
In fact if this wasn't even about a Vagabond, the manga would not be seinen and believe it or not is more like Shojo with swords. If you focus too much on the female connotation of Shojo of course it's not. However if you consider Shojo to be more of a genre where the thousand mile stares and slice of life = tragedy and that all the characters are trapped in a mine of longing, I'm not exaggerating Vagabond is basically this.
This is both Vagabond's strength and weakness. More so than Shamo although Shamo equally has those unrealistic moments.
When Vagabond is dealing with a fight scene, an upcoming one, the combination wields an engaging plot that would make you curious as to what will happen next. In fact the later chapters pretty much spells this out with a major character retelling flashbacks more than the manga trying to be an adventure story anymore.
However when you remove the fight scenes, this is where both the Shojo and Seinen elements fail. Even though one reviewer said they liked that there's not much gratuitous violence compared to other Seinen, the thing is Vagabond's gore and nudity can be more disturbing than traditional gory manga.
Not because there's too much but rather because there's too much stupidity for almost the few times violence and death and nudity is shown. In it's attempt to be philosophic, Vagabond ends up making it's characters mere caricatures. Ones where the art and the panel storyline takes precedence over the overall storyline.
Don't get me wrong. In many ways this is why it's a good read. If you've ever wanted a semi-realistic portrayal of a goody imposter, a mute samurai, a horrible old lady that gets her just deserts, a woman who sees a flying chibi ghost, a monk who doesn't know what in the world he is doing and just tries to torture people he randomly comes again - Vagabond is almost comedy gold in that in a subtle manner.
The problem is: that's pretty much the entire manga. Even the violence and nudity falls under that same pattern where one panel is for an action scene that would please many fans who are into manga for the art or the eye candy and then the next panel, same situation, it would be text heavy and then the next panel there are guys that come off like they get cut down because they think too much. As in literally they get sliced up while they are thinking.
This doesn't mean the manga or the manga's fans just sweep over these flaws. The whole thing is supposed to represent a lightning fast event happening over an introspective event. It's like an event where someone shots a bullet at you and your mind flashes through everything and it's both a blur and yet after the fight, there's lots of rationalizing and events pouring through your brain.
Unfortunately, again, this is why the manga is both a good read but something you can skip. In many ways a philosophical text book has a limited audience and the philosophy has to stand the test of time. Atlas Shrugged for example is famous but unless you buy into this idea that Ayn Rand's themes are worth reading, then instead of being an enlightening read, it's just a classic. The same can be said for the Bible. Unless you're curious or got hooked by the flashy effects, a Biblical movie at the end of the day is just a flashy fantasy movie that tries to be philosophical but just ends up not being deep at all except for those people who they themselves are shallow but pretends to be philosophical in nature. The type of people that would re-interpret a realistic portrayal as a violently shocking one and be glued to the screen as if they watched a train wreck but then go on and complain about how a realistic scene is too gory or made too shocking because they themselves put on rosy tinted glasses that got shattered as opposed to the scenes being actually overtly violent.
Nonetheless I'm not saying Vagabond is a bad manga. Again, it's just a skippable one. If you like the first few chapters, go ahead and continue reading it. But if you start disliking the manga or if you start hoping for more or if you want to read another manga or if you're tired of the artwork, it's skippable. I'm not saying this for the benefit of those who have actually read the manga. Of course the choice is always there for all manga. I'm merely stating this case for those who haven't read the manga. Some mangas have a big pay off in arcs. Not just in terms of entertainment and philosophy and depth. Vagabond is just not one of those. The only reason it's a 7 because it understands what it is and that's a unique take on familiar characters and it tries to string along that characterization. However characterization alone is not enough if most of the additional scenes all ultimately fail for feeling like filler rather than philosophy.
To summarize: Philosophically, this does not even match up to Slam Dunk and Slam Dunk is not that deep of a manga to begin with. It's inspirational but it's not that deep. So imagine Vagabond being this way but trying to shove you more philosophy and less action and ultimately you get a 4 (decent) manga wrapped up in great artwork and historical fiction so it becomes a 7 but the hype for this manga is centered around entirely on the sizzle of Takehiko Inoue improving his artwork to do a samurai manga based on famous characters and not disappointing even though he doesn't break much new ground either.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 16, 2011
An underrated fetish manga labeled as ecchi manga.
I don't know what's the modern barometer for ecchi nowadays but to me this is not it and this is what makes Mika a fun short manga to sit down and read up on.
Execution wise, it seems the first plot gets most of the accolades but I think anyone looking for a special short story would be disappointment.
What makes Mika great is how much it gets things past the radar and by great, I mean in a sort of referential kind of thing. Not in terms of quality.
One way to look at it is if you're familiar with
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the subtleties of the themes in the manga, it's an 8 because of how absurd the whole concept is pulled off. Even your regular hentai mangas normally don't try to sell these type of concepts. It really tries to be an entire manga parodying fridge logic and while this isn't the first strange manga nor is it the best in terms of creating lewd innuendo, this is the most daring one I've seen.
On the down side, this manga's quality is predicated on your knowledge of different H fetishes. Things like dick girls, furries, diaper girls... you have to know this AND you have to accept that the characters are normal anime characters put into strange situations. If not, then most of the manga loses in impact on the storytelling portion.
This is not to say the manga becomes disinteresting but it becomes closer to a mediocre ecchi manga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 10, 2011
Wow. I didn't really check all the side stories for Hokuto no Ken but this is one of the few side stories that is it's own manga and IMO it even succeeds over the original in many ways.
For those who've never read Hokuto no Ken...actually scratch that.
If you've read Hokuto no Ken, it's safe to say that the series is pretty complete as it is and many of the characters just aren't that interesting unless you are a completionist of canon.
Among all the side stories I skimmed though, Jagi was always the one guy that stood out.
Now for those who hasn't read Hokuto no
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Ken, what makes Jagi stand out is that he's such a minor character with arguably the coolest costume among all the antagonists that the protagonist faces.
If he were a videogame character, he would basically be the forgettable first boss and forget about him making a recurring return. He simply was an overpowered thug if not for his blood relations with the main character (which in Fist of the North Star is pretty much everyone so it's not that special)
There really isn't much you can add. Maybe a love interest...some bio...you know the drill for expanding a character.
HOLY **********!
Forget all that. Just read the manga.
While at first this actually seems far far worse than the original manga mainly because of the artwork and the parodic interactions, it soon becomes clear this is the type of manga that totally changes your perception of the character.
While overall the character remains pretty much the same old stupid character he was in the original series, the side characters basically changed everything about not only the character himself in relation to the canon, it ****ing changed the whole premise behind the original manga.
One of the few rare manga that aren't that good but becomes that good because it requires expletives just to describe it as an overall package.
Buckle your seats folks, Jagi Gaiden might not seem like it's worth it as a serious violent manga on first glance but it more than delivers in it's overall package. (Although the ending could be considered anti-climactic for those who haven't read the original series)
It doesn't matter if you're a fan of romance, tragedy, action, coming of age...Jagi Gaiden simply delivers in everything but artwork and yet in there too as soon as you discover the climactic revelation - the artwork suddenly seems to be suited for the story. One of the greatest underrated short story manga because it had been delegated as a side story.
If this review sounds excessively over-excited. Here's the thing, it's been a while since I read the manga and I still can't believe all I can think of is HOLY... it's really that good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 10, 2011
If it weren't for the manga being on hiatus, I would consider this the true spiritual successor to Fist of the North Star. (Hokuto Shinken)
One has to only look at the first few panels to wonder why I'm comparing this to something more fantasy based as FotNS.
...and I think this is what makes Shamo a masterpiece if it actually had a legitimate ending.
The manga is just pure existentialist material for me.
On one hand you had the basic premise. Shamo shattered any doubts I had that a legitimate exciting MMA manga could be made.
On the flip side, Shamo's failure in doing that, is something that would
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break or make the illusion of the very concept of manga. One close comparison to this is if you've watched Nadesico and was conflicted with what Nadesico was in terms of it's war torn reality.
On one hand you had the fictional idealism of heart, courage and guts willing towards heroics typical of manga. On the other hand, the idealistic heroes not only died but in the Prince of Darkness OVA, even the pragmatic ones were tortured beyond your typical dark manga. (and not blatant sociopathic kick the puppy type of scenarios either.)
This is more magnified in Shamo...but only if you have a surface knowledge of martial arts especially in this age ...and it is this manga's greatest strength and greatest turn off.
See nobody truly believed that the Hokuto Shinken martial arts where real even during FotNS' time but the way those styles and characters just appealed to the battle fan, you just can't helped but feel it was...tolerable. Tolerable as in the battles might be fantasy but the struggles transcended towards reality but obviously using fantasy elements.
This to me has always been what got me into anime and then later on manga.
As a kid, I wasn't exactly watching the deepest of animes but the difference between something like DBZ to me from that of say your average brutal masterpiece like Clockwork Orange was that even though DBZ was kid's stuff...it was more "mature". It dealt with more mature people trying to rise up to the challenge in more character building/character destroying incidents than simply a moving script.
Maybe that's going too far since I'm not exactly representing the masses here and Shamo isn't exactly a manga without nudity (though as a kid I was too much looking into plots that I didn't really get bothered by nudity) so let's shift it into something much more related to real life sports.
Everyone probably knows such classics as Hajime no Ippo and Slam Dunk and while no Japanese ever really had been like the Ippo or Rukawa of reality, there's a certain sense that manga is transcending between the lines of reality and fiction and in turn it is recreating what made us excited about the sports even though if you know something about the sports beyond the surface level, it clearly is tailored for excitement and escapism like any type of pop entertainment product.
It never bothered me though and I think for the majority of fans, they too accepted the margin of fantasy inter-mixed with the margin of reality and those manga just inspires fans to be more passionate about their passions even though they weren't "realistic" but came too close to being idealistic inspirations.
Shamo doesn't do that. But unlike how it often is, Shamo doesn't do that because it is a step above. It took what Fist of the North Star's claim to fame originally was and it evolved it into modern perceptions.
What I mean by this is that even today, even the greatest battle manga that has come and gone, there has nothing quite like Fist of the North Star where you literally had Superman but this wasn't Superman as in Super Powers or Superman as in Martial Arts power-up like Goku but Superman as in the guy who literally took assassination to it's utmost fantasy limits while retaining close to the anatomy of a realistic human body in a battle type setting. Simply speaking, Fist of the North Star pre-empted many of the pseudo realistic appeals that manga like Slam Dunk and Hajime no Ippo had. Especially if you looked beyond the violence. And it did that for one of the most mystical concepts in our world which was martial arts.
It is what it was for martial arts then. Hokuto Shinken added the fantasies we all had of martial arts but it also added the reality of fighting in the sense that if you're not some brutal supermaster martial arts, you just died. You just get killed and died. Even if you reached the temple of greatness, you simply disappeared. It is only because the concept kept itself close to fantasy battles and wars that it didn't feel like a downer. Yet at the same time, no one would say it wasn't stretching what was acceptable for fantasy. At least for me, it transcended the struggles often seen even in real life accounts. It had horror, it had reality, it made you want to desire women but at the same time accept that having the utmost power of fucking a beaut isn't exactly the highest showcase of martial arts superiority. Sure it was post-apocalyptic and it based itself on an American movie but like Slam Dunk, like Hajime no Ippo, like other quality battle or sports manga...there was a sense that it was just sugar coating for the present reality.
...and all that, only manga could deliver and if it got through an anime sometimes it reaches more audience while retaining mostly the same soul of rugged pseudo-fantasy, pseudo-reality, pseudo-inspirational, pseudo-downer that manga had brought forth that not even many Western comics could do at a consistent rate especially in terms of depth. (Just look at Sin City where the events literally had to take itself within a city and it was all close to one shot arcs because the characters couldn't interact too much with each other or else the grittiness dies)
In many ways though, you can't improve much on the formula outside of art or concepts because at a certain point, fantasy becomes standard fantasy. Even if you bring up an unorthodox character, you can never replicate the times where people wondered about Reiki, Dim Mak, Bruce Lee and all those times of innocent mysteries that made the concept of certain mangas much more "innovative" emotionally for people living in those times. (especially if you're not the type to laugh at the bad fashion or the bad science or whatever)
...at least until this manga, I never thought it was possible to spiritually succeed Hokuto Shinken. Sure you can make sequels but you can overall overhaul the thing. It would take something really special to break something that is already really special. After all, even when you have video games with epic storylines almost all of us understand that elves are elves, energy blasts are energy blasts, pressure points are pressure points...and in reality for martial arts, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Machida karate, Counter-boxing are more proven effective arts than pure Judo, pure Sambo, pure lots of things at a generic level...the only mystery really left is the mystery of willing disbelief or ignorance.
You can no longer be a fan of Bruce Lee and then research on Lee at a surface level and not encounter the fact that Bruce had no real combat experience compared to even bar room brawlers much less many of the guys who cross train nowadays and easily have both technique and strengths.
Yet this is what Shamo tries to break. This is what makes this notable from a contemplative psychological standpoint.
If you're just going to look at the basic premise, I still say this manga is enjoyable but it's no 9.
It is only by understanding what Fist of the North Star added and what Shamo tries to bring back but does with modern martial arts that you get back this old sense of urban post-apocalyptic nihilism and a guy who simply tries to rise over that but in turn gets destroyed by the very same bureaucratic society he was born into and it is critical to empathize from that perspective in order to really understand why this is not just a manga you pick up and read. At best you're doing yourself a favor by checking this out as early as possible after finding out what this manga is.
At the same time, it still cannot be denied that the manga fails.
It fails both because it has a 2nd arc that is irrelevant to the 3rd arc and it fails because simply you're stuck with the fantasy elements where even an elementary knowledge of martial arts nowadays would dissolve any type of pseudo-realistic elements the characters should have and in the end you almost have the same type of caricatures as past their era pseudo-realistic depictions where the final product becomes silly...yet appealing.
...and yet digging deeper, trying to create a review from my perspective that doesn't mimic other reviews, what makes Shamo most difficult to portray is that it simply digs too deep. The artwork and scenes are just too close to reality that you can't help but say...well...they're fake once it hits the more fantasy parts.
Albeit Fist of the North Star is not exactly a hard manga to review. It's just that with Shamo, I'm not trying to portray it as the next Fist of the North Star as much as saying imagine Fist of the North Star's innovative elements pushed towards the modern context of the world of martial arts. How dry would that be on one hand because most modern arts are full of go to moves rather than flashy moves but not only that flashy moves are proven failed attempts. How can Shamo get away with that and yet still be that pseudo-realistic mega-violent nihilistic apocalyptic battlefield of one-on-one that Fist of the North Star popularized? ...and bring it to an overall product?
Sometimes you just can't. Sometimes it's easier to just say Shamo is a different product. Shamo failed at representing modern martial arts by trying to be about Karate. Shamo simply is a crude attempt that came close but never sniffed at the results...but then that wouldn't be fair to the overall journey that a manga like Shamo can bring forth to a reader. So how?
Do a reviewer just say it's a martial arts manga? Do we just settle on the protagonist Ryo Narushima being a step above your desperate manga protagonist?
I'd really like to not settle on that perception because it doesn't do justice to what it brings. This is not just a masterpiece level manga, it is a very unique manga that ranks up there with some of the best manga and it is only a 9 because it is both unfinished and it is unfinished in such a way that it detracts from how the characters were built in the first place.
That said, since I can't seem to portray this manga well at all, all I can say for potential readers is that: the first chapters are dry. This manga has no conclusion. It is unfinished. Character developments aren't perfect. Sometimes you wonder if the manga isn't a real type of manga at all and everyone took LSD and had hallucinations and yet...
If you're ever a fan of manga that challenges your concepts of manga especially if you're a martial arts fan, you owe it to yourself to read up on what is currently out there for Shamo. Even if it's just scanlations. The arc might be incomplete but unlike most incomplete quality works (especially since I'm not the type to read a manga until it is finished) the experience brought forth by this manga is pretty complete. I'm not sure if you will have a concept crisis as to what manga is like what reading this did for me nor can I guarantee you this manga will blow you away especially with the dry introductions but this manga is as special as it gets for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 25, 2011
A horrendous mecha anime that is worth a peek.
Understand that I'm writing this review from the perspective that none of the current reviews represents my perspective of this anime.
Normally this means a show is either worse or better than what the overall reviewers have portrayed since I'm not the type to write a review without looking and considering the rest of the reviews that's been written. Brain Powerd is this one exception.
Let's get the bad out of the way first: Is this as horrible or cookie cutter as many of the bad reviewers have written?
In many ways, it's worse. I'm telling you right now I
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didn't finish watching this show and I simply watched the first and the last episode.
If you're wondering then how I can review this show without going through the pain of watching this horrendous series, well...here lies the merit of Brain Powerd.
As a show: it's horrendous. Mecha designs that try to have that Tekkaman or RahXephon look but fail miserably.
Plot that jumps right at the gate yet fails to be exciting.
Even the characters given some positive light are truly merely simplistic even by classic mecha standards and yet in some ways it's made more horrible because it doesn't follow a prototypical theme.
However Brain Powerd is also more of a failed classical music piece than it is a train wrecked.
For those who can't tolerate drudging up a horrible anime to find that jewel within, I sincerely advise you to check out Super Robot Taisen/Wars Judgement for the GBA. Really with the English patch and it being for the gba (low specs for PC emulator), there's really few excuses to not go that route when trying to consume this show.
However you're probably asking: Does it still count as an anime review IF you aren't talking specifically about the anime even?
This is really were Brain Powerd's quality reveals itself - plot-wise.
Normally when it comes to Super Robot Wars as a series, it's known to resurrect interest in lesser known shows by simply showcasing and adding the plot into the overall story of the series.
Brain Powerd, however, actually does something else. It's like within the format of SRW J - it's qualities shine. This is credited both to Brain Powerd's overall theme as well as this version of SRW focusing specifically on Brain Powerd's plot.
This doesn't mean the anime itself has no superior qualities over it's adaptation but in many ways: the adaptation becomes superior to the anime and I'm not just talking about design or coolness factor or because the robots actually play well. I'm talking literally plot-wise, the arcs in Brain Powerd is never the same after you finish the Brain Powerd route in SRW J.
Why is this?
To begin with, aesthetically, the SD format really makes the Brain Powerd look and feel better and more fluid than the anime does.
The major part however lies in that the central plot of Brain Powerd, it's central premise, relies very hard on certain "vagueness" as well as the threat posed by the synopsis actually feeling like a threat.
One could even use the classic Enemy per Episode Super Mecha plot line as a basis for why it's needed. Even as the threats in those series get killed every episode and the whole thing feels like the main mecha is invincible - it has a certain old school feel that attracts many anime lovers who've lived watching those eras.
Brain Powerd's plot is on one hand nowhere near that level of "suspense" yet at the same time it's central theme is based around that "suspense" as an over-arcing plot. (Really hard to explain without spoiling many of the actual twists in the series.)
The anime fails heavily towards this element though because most of it is based around...how should I put it...dry horrible lackadisical pacing with no additional threat on top of the whole threat. (Plus the so-called antagonist is really mostly a static statue.)
Because the SRW J version however contains tons of other threats - the result is that every twist in Brain Powerd because this sort of nostalgic "heavy" event when you're rewatching the anime AFTER you've played the game. This doesn't necessarily mean the videogame adaptation is a perfect copy of the anime (one major character specifically is overlooked by the adaptation for example) but rather with the threat contextified, with the characters sort of formed and with many of the ugliness of the anime versions stripped away - Brain Powerd's one main quality is magnified and many of the positive reviewers have tried to highlight this quality but really I think on average even on a critical level - Brain Powerd is hard to "get". It's below love or hate. It's a series that's just...dull or cookie cutter...until you see it as a whole and then the whole puzzles and forms itself into what the anime becomes.
The closest analogy that comes to my mind is to compare the great movies of the past that are really just over-retelling romanticized version of events. Cameron's Titanic for example is basically a ship wreck that becomes one of the most memorable love stories in film history. A news casting of a Tsunami far outweighs the movie version of it. It's this really important distinction that is needed to appreciate Brain Powerd.
What is especially masterpiece worthy about it is that I don't know any anime that has that type of quality. Someone for example could point to that SRW adaptation of Evangelion's Shinji and say...that's how you do it right but it's still the same series. Brain Powerd post-SRW J versus pre-SRW J is not the same series. Especially the ending where without the SRW perspective it becomes sort of "trying hard"/"ok I get what you are trying to pull off but it's still silly" into something much closer to a "OMG this is something big!"
Nonetheless, I still wouldn't say Brain Powerd is a good anime even with the SRW J adaptation. I actually hate that route in the game and I hate the mecha - they really weren't anything special and they don't have that good of an overall pull but "intrigue" - they have that in spades and although the curiosity wasn't really done well - it's this element that separates Brain Powerd from being just a crappy mecha anime and it's worth retelling the anime as such otherwise it seems criminal to the canon like if you're watching Getter Robo and yawning at the bad mecha without knowing what Getter Emperor is or you're watching Evangelion and then missing out on End of Evangelion. The key is not so much the quality of action or the portrayal of characters but instead the overall symbolistic enjoyment that is missed without reaching those context.
As far as what the anime has over the videogame adaptation? The opening song even if you hear it in the game is not as haunting as the anime series and really it's one of the things cementing Brain Powerd's charm and uniqueness as a series. Normally you wait until a climactic moment or the actual ending before you get something good but Brain Powerd's opening is both the ultimate ending/climax as well as being able to pump you up as a first time viewer however without knowledge of the entire plot it is also something of an acid trip especially the original opening theme scenes. All in all it's really a series that is more of a puzzle that adds layers upon rewatching if only if it was that good or the characters were really that well designed or well formed. I would even go so far as saying a direct remake - with no changes in plot but character design, pacing, execution - is on par with Serial Experiment Lain but with Mecha. That's how unique Brain Powerd is IF only it is able to make the right order of settings and it really should go down as that type of anime instead of a either you love it or hate it one because either extreme opinions doesn't do respect to what this anime offers it's viewers that other mecha series don't or extremely rarely deliver.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 18, 2011
Curling sports manga? More like a manga that's as enjoyable as Ranma 1/2.
I haven't finished reading this manga when I reviewed it and judging by the length (Manga Fox has 3 of the volumes released and the info says it only reached up to volume 4) it's highly unlikely that the manga even comes close to being rated as good as Ranma was but there's a lot of similar things you might enjoy coming into this series.
I won't spoil most of it but let's just say like the sports event in Ranma, there are tons of quirky characterizations in this manga. It doesn't get as
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over the top as Ranma and it seems toned down compared to many sports manga but at the same time the fanservice seems toned up and is largely responsible for making the humor work.
Mix all these in and you basically have an unknown manga leave memorable moments simply for having that great mix of chemistry between characters and quirky situations resulting in a very cute setting that arguably gets you pumped up about the subject matter.
Definitely a manga you want to at least finish the first volume before making your judgement to ignore or completely read up on.
If there's one downside to all the quirkiness is that maybe the characters come off too unrealistic to be believable. Not that Ranma wasn't known for this but since we're talking characterizations that aren't as rarely used as gender transformation my review may over-inflate the characters. At the same time, many of the quirky characters here are definitely not designed in such a way that are often portrayed for comedy.
Another refreshing thing about this manga is that the premise lends it so that the main character is neither a newbie genius nor someone who is the catalyst for their decisions. The Manga Fox synopsis does a great job of setting the mood but really until you finish the first volume it's hard to gauge an initial expectation from this manga unless you really are coming in expecting a Ranma-like manga already.
All in all, the 6 isn't fair because if this were a longer series I might rate this as a 9 or 10 depending on the subplots and the character development but at the same time the length, the theme and probably the speed at which scenes jump around combined with my having not completely finished the manga all leads to a rating of 6 in a "just to be safe" manner in case the finale of the manga disappoints.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 16, 2011
Groundbreaking even today.
Although many have tried to look at Parasyte as an Alien Invasion manga (and it is a fresh one at that if not slightly relying on a successful shonen coming of age formula) what none of the reviewers have alluded to is how much realistic Parasyte is towards explaining the role of parasites in the ecosystem.
Albeit the manga doesn't scientifically "verify" the role of parasites, many of what you see in this manga happen to coincide with real parasites all over the world.
If parasites' existence were easy to explain this manga would only be slightly noteworthy but the things from how parasites need
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additional food to how they have a close symbiotic almost mutualistic relationship with their host separate this from your average invasion manga.
What makes this especially noteworthy is that, by accident or by purpose, reading this manga allows you to separate the complexity of why parasites exist in reality maybe even more so than a biology text book.
The thing that makes this happen is because parasites are sort of easy to define but to comprehend the theory behind their existence like how they outnumber several top species or how they break the food chain theory of humans being on top or how certain parasites complement and extend the host's instinct (like our desire to procreate) it's really hard to fill all this in if you know little about parasites. Especially as you go deeper into the rarer parasites that act like the parasites in this manga where they insert and change the inner anatomy of their host as well as their instincts.
By sort of turning parasites into living weapons with a catch and a virtual pet hunger meter, it transcends most of the explanation needed for the basic necessity of parasites and as you dig deeper into the manga and as the parasites' objective match closer to that of the humans - it becomes a sort of bridge as to how parasites seem to harm their host while at another extent seem to be useless outside of harming their host for self-preservation. Seeing parasites depicted like this in the manga helps bridge one closer to the interpretation that maybe just maybe parasites harm their host because they adapt slower to their host's habits and mentality and yet they stick very close to what makes their host survive and the combination in turn becomes very chaotic like the events shown in your typical fantasy war or battle or coming of age series but sort of alien.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 13, 2011
"What a great manga! I wonder why it's not popular like One piece?"
I wanted to write those words but I've never fully checked out One Piece. The main character just didn't interest me.
Instead this was taken from a Manga Foxer who made that comment.
So from my perspective, it was more because it was a fresh pirate world. If you like Shonen animes, this manga doesn't have much build up to the fights but it's chock full of elements that makes the world unique enough to be on par with some of the classics.
The characters are a bit hit and miss: being too hot blooded
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talented at times and at other times being too reckless and focused on certain characters.
This is made up for the vast personality given to the rest of the cast when it doesn't revolve around fight scenes. The females too are uniquely designed compared to your average shonen. Some designs even able to be foxy without really being your traditional anime/manga beaut.
This is still more of a kiddie light hearted manga though (at least at the point that I've read) but I mentioned the females above because they have the strongest art presence as far as highlighting the unique designs of the world. If the "strong" female lead designs don't pull you in, chances are the rest of the world won't.
As far as premise, I wouldn't suggest this to Trigun fans but let's just say despite being a pirate themed world the crucial plot is similar to that. That is to say, if you're a fan of magical weapons, mystical creatures and wimps that have the capability to go boom then this manga is worth a check as long as you don't coming in expecting a Western themed manga.
The difference between this and Trigun is that you have a pletora of young annoying characters which makes the powers and the character development more...shall we say...annoying. It's like being part of a unique manga world but bringing your annoying nephew or friend (if you are a kid) to the party. Truthfully this should be what makes the manga fresh but it just stumbles because the brats while having a good premise initially never lives up to their development as characters pulled into a bad situation and so you have a ton of predictable volumes where the kids are seriously like normal kids being bailed out by a Superman character.
Other than that, there's not much to be said about this manga except that it would make for one of the best JRPG plots because of the premise that the main characters start at the middle of their journey and many of the interesting characters having grown older which again follows the Trigun plot of rediscovering your past. This is really where the manga starts to shine, if you love these kinds of lighthearted growing old to be a badass plots then even if you hate everything else about this manga (or the youth going on an adventure theme), it's worth at least a 9 just for those scenes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 24, 2011
All you need to do is to search "I will protect you" on Fakku to understand the notability of this H-manga.
I don't know how much it ranks but this is arguably one of the most hated Netorare manga out there.
For that alone, it's worth a peek if you can stomach plots centered around a childhood friend being raped and stolen away and then being re-united but the relationship has long been destroyed.
What makes this really different from other Netorare is that this contains a strong female, a Shinji-like pacifist character, a sort of tradition gone crazy plot and ultimately an ending that is more real
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rape than the fantasy reality common to rape hentai.
The cons though are still standard hentai fare: the female gets easily blackmailed, the villains are mostly standard evil bullies and a fat man with one notable character who at the ending gave an ambiguous unexplained smile and as with great macabre endings, the best audience are those who hate it and they tend to not praise the works they hate.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 23, 2011
A more realistic re-telling of the manga 'Monster'.
People who haven't finished reading the manga Monster may not get this and in many ways the art and the story spoils the final plot developments of that manga, but it cannot be denied: this manga at least is shorter and is much more realistic in the sense that there's no hero to the horror and the timeline of the story is much closer to how long real life serial killers' careers last.
This doesn't mean this is realistic though. From the first panel onwards, it is clear this is meant to be more poetic than realistic. Those who
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dislike poetry and manga may even consider this hollow compared to the real life elements behind serial killings.
Still, compared to Monster, I have to consider the murders here more realistic and thus makes the brutality of the acts more "disturbing" and that is one of the primary hooks to Monster to begin with.
This is its' primary pros and cons though.
If you read Monster before, would you read a short re-telling of the same Monster?
If you haven't read Monster, would the immediate jump to a much more artistic artwork turn you away from the initial panels and settings?
I will say this: unlike Monster, the ending has a better pay off and it isn't because of it's short length either.
This manga could have easily been stretched although just like Monster - all it would do is make the whole thing feel more tedious as even here it already feels like it is dragging in the middle.
For those who don't care for Monster and would just like a straight up review: If you like a dark Batman and feel like Batman's origins wasn't as dark and didn't do justice to the man compared to some of the later darker twists in the caped crusader's canon (like the switching of the mantle between the first Batgirl and the 2nd one) - the ending clues in on how good it can be done. The characters and relationships of course are not the same but if you ever want to see how an average combination of poetic, manga, noir and fictional serial killing ending would formulate; this is one of those manga with such a quality of an ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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