May 26, 2020
I had high hopes for this manga since it's an adaptation of my personal favorite anime. Unfortunately, this manga is an incredible disappointment. One of the Sakura Quest anime's defining traits is that it doesn't sexualize its characters. The Sakura Quest anime works to retain viewers through an exceptional story, relatable characters, and, above all else, realism. This is completely lost on the manga, which prefers to sexualize the characters (especially Shiori) as a means of retaining viewership. Needless to say, this is blatant departure from the anime is an insult to Sakura Quest fans and an insult to the artistic vision of the show
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itself. I understand making alterations in order to adapt an anime to a manga - that isn't an issue. The issue is that the changes being made don't clarify any confusion in the story, nor do they provide any supplementary information that uplifts the story in any way. There is one reason and one reason only: sexualization. The manga isn't trying to impress you with the story or the character personalities that are so aptly depicted in the anime. The manga wants you to lust for the characters. Not exactly a good selling point for a story whose purpose is to show normal people living a realistic, normal lives.
You may be curious as to why I'm focusing so much on this instead of, say, the story or the art. The answer for that is simple: the manga adaptation fails to effectively tell the story. The bland, weak art doesn't provide the viewer with anything enjoyable to look at. It fails to make the lengthy conversations appealing. This is hardly surprising since Sakura Quest doesn't rely on the kinds of reaction images that are able to easily applicable for comedy. Still images of characters talking doesn't work in comparison to those same characters talking while animated. The manga fails to capture the emotions of the characters in these scenes, and without the characters' voices and tones, the moments that hit home so well in the anime are flat and uninspiring in the manga. While the characters and story are amazing in anime, the manga simply fails to make the most of either. It may have a similar body to the anime, but it lacks the soul of the anime, and without that soul, the body is nothing more than a lifeless husk devoid of all energy.
I deeply despise this manga adaptation and strongly discourage anyone from reading it. If you are even remotely interested in Sakura Quest, then I implore you to watch the anime, which is available both in subbed and dubbed formats. As an anime original, there is simply no other way to engage with the Sakura Quest story than in its intended viewing format. Given the ludicrously poor quality of the manga (and the manga being unavailable in any language other than its native Japanese), I'm forced to conclude that it's little more than a cash grab meant to snag as much money as possible from a title so woefully underappreciated by anime fans.
TL;DR: WATCH THE ANIME; IGNORE THE MANGA. It's only available in Japanese, its art quality is poor, it blatantly disregards a defining trait of the series, it fails to make the reader feel emotion during crucial moments, and it dumbs down scenes to the point where any enjoyment they once had is outright removed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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