Feb 23, 2014
There are three things I want to mention about "Hinamatsuri":
1. This is a full-fledged comedy manga.
2. Despite the unusual setting, this is a slice-of-life manga without 'depressing drama moments'.
3. This is a very awesome and very unique manga.
Ok, let me explain:
1. There are a lot of comedy mangas out there, often with some girls talking about random stuff, but most of them aren't really that funny. And that's actually fine! Even though they might not be that funny, still they bring a smile to my face and are worth reading.
Well, "Hinamatsuri" is different. This manga is REALLY funny. There were some scenes were I actually
...
had to laugh for a while before I could continue reading. Hina is just such a dumb and weird girl, it's really hilarious, and also some of the situations with the side characters are just pretty funny.
What I really like about the manga is how it isn't really exaggerated: Many comedy mangas try to present some 'crazy' and 'over the top' stuff to make people laugh, but not here: Most of the time, the stuff which happens here isn't that unrealistic, it could actually happen in real life (to some extent), and that's also what makes it so good. It's kind of 'real-life-situations', which would be really funny is those actually happened. The art, which doesn't uses SD scenes, but rather 'realisticly warped faces', does a very good job in supporting this. The manga doesn't feel like a completely detached 'fantasy world', but rather something you could relate to, to some extent.
2. "Hinamatsuri" has a very weird and unusual setting: The male protagonist is a respected yakuza member, and one day, a girl with strong psychic powers appears in his appartment and their life together begins. This really sounds like that there will be some real plot to where the girl actually came from, how she got her powers etc. Usually, you'd think the manga would go like this: Parts with lots of comedy, and in between parts with serious scenes (or in bad cases, 'forced drama', see Haganai anime) with no comedic content. There are some comedy mangas which executed this formula well, and a lot which did this miserably.
Well, Hinamatsuri is different. There has been no chapter so far which was 'depressing' or had no comedy in it. You know, a manga dealing with serious topics isn't bad, but most of the time, I just want something relaxing with no content which would get me "emotionally worked up". Slice of Life is the perfect genre for this: Just relaxing content, no drama stuff.
Every chapter of "Hinamatsuri" stays true to it's comedic nature. There's no chapter where suddenly everything gets tense and serious, no. It's always got it's bright mood.
But don't get this wrong: The plot definitely progresses. Situations changes for many of the side characters. Also, we do actually get to know more about Hina and where she came from. But it's all presented in a funny manner and really slowly, so that the manga always maintains it's "Slice of Life" character.
Also, some scenes can be somewhat emotional, for example, when a side character has to start living as a homeless person. As I mentioned, the manga doesn't make a "Hoho, she's homeless, how funny!"-thing out of it (like some other exaggerated comedies might do), but rather presents this rather dire situation in an appropriate way. But even so, the mood never gets dark. The character stays strong, and so does the comedy.
Here, I also want to praise the characters: They are really really awesome. Not only Hina and her yakuza caretaker, but also many of the side characters, which get into pretty funny situations in their life.
3. The setting is very unique. The comedy is very good. The way how the story unfolds is pretty awesome. The manga never fails to keep up it's bright mood and soon, you will come to love most of this manga's characters.
Really, give it a shot ;-)
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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