Kin no Hitsuji
The Golden Sheep

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From a technical perspective The Golden Sheep is basically flawless with effective art and paneling, great character designs, and coherent backgrounds. The story is a typical coming of age tale, which is the author somewhat specializes in, and it is here the negatives can be found.

Of the 4 protagonists, 2 have a satisfying, if quick, arc while the other two pull down the series. Tsugu in particular stands out for her optimism and sincerity, which puts here a cut above move teenage girl leads. The slight romance that develops with her is compelling and leads to some of the most effective emotional beats. Her and ... her otaku love interest are easily the best part of the series.

The sick one and the boxer on the other hand just never get in a groove. They do awful things repeatedly throughout the series which then gets 'resolved' in a series of tearful exchanges. There isn't much likability or arc to be found here. The boxer in particular just never earns the resolution the series give it.

The length of the series is a massive negative. A longer story would have given more time for the reconciliation to develop naturally and for the characters to face the consequences of their actions. The entire cast also leaves off in a very interesting placed, and volumes of material could easily be spent exploring things the characters just off-handedly mention in the last page.

Good, but not filled out enough to be truly impactful.

Score: decent 7

Once again a review because there are no reviews. This manga is pretty good, I would lean towards a 7.5 instead of an 8, but that's not an option. I gave it an 8 because it felt like a fairly real interpretation of what could happen to someone who comes back to an area they've been gone from for a while. The main character is positive but not oblivious, and she does a good job supporting the other characters in the story, particularly the dark-haired boy. Likewise, all of the characters remained grounded and fairly compelling.

It was short, so there's not too much else ... to say, but it was good.

The story brings a little group of teenagers that hadnt been together for a couple of years, this came with a lot of memories, new status quo etc. The years of adolescence are so hard sometimes but, what about those who cant handle it at all, what about those who depend on other's oppion to carry on with themselves?, this manga tells a beautiful story about them, about life and how to do your best also when you have no hope to continue. Really recommend it. [TRIGGER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAD/HAVE ANXIETY OR SIMILAR ISSUES, THIS MANGA MAY NOT BE FOR YOU, BUT IT ... HAS HAPPY ENDING, SO READ IT AT YOUR OWN RISK]

This manga had a lot going for it. Its story is something that appeals to me a lot. The idea of your friends not being the same people as they were when you left is something I feel like I'd like t see explored more in ways similar to this. I won't say it's the most unique structure, but it definitely is engaging. Not to mention, it even went the whole running away on an adventure to become stronger plotline which is almost like an instant appeal point to me. That said, my overall feelings on this manga were a lot more mixed, sometimes negative. ... I'll start off with positives about this manga first because I want to be able to show that there is value to be found here and it isn't a 6/10 for me because it's mediocre all around.

Edit: actually tbh 4/10 haha after letting it sit in I did not like it.

First of all, the art is very good. There's a certain flare to the expressions of the characters that makes it evident what they're thinking or feeling without any dialogue boxes used. You find something as simple yet effective as this most commonly in larger, more important scenes in most manga, but this is one of the few that does it consistently even during the smaller moments.

Next, I think the general story is good. I explained at the beginning why I feel like this manga ahs story beats that immediately appeal to me. It's still a bit iffy in execution which I'll get to later, but the very structure of the story I think was good and made for some decent developments to occur.

And last notable positive, Sora and Tsugu are good characters. Their struggles, guilts, everything all make sense within the scope of the story and most of the decisions they make (key word being most) are all in line with such.

And on to the negatives, which is conveniently right after I talk about the two good characters in the story, because the other two of the main, sick girl and boxer(can't be bothered to write their names) are downright horribly written. Not only are they horribly written, but their dynamic with the two good characters I mentioned earlier sours my taste for even them, as it sort of muddles the point of their arcs.

Spoilers incoming.

Both the sick girl and boxer are just downright horrendous people. I'll start with boxer first. The concept of his character is that he used to be a nice, upstanding kid, but after he started to get bullied due to his dad getting into a pedo scandal(which btw also makes it hard to sympathize with the dad when that's what they decided to make his scandal. They should've chose something more forgivable or make him a victim of false accusation if they wanted to portray him as sympathetic, but that's very subjective I guess.)

Anyway, in desperation he asks Sora if he wants to go boxing with him, but Sora, not understanding at the time that it was a cry for help, declines. Eventually, when they get to high school, Boxer turns Sora into his and his group of delinquents' punching bag. The guilt Sora feels after realizing that he pushed Boxer away first is a really good motivation that explains why he takes the beatings and literal physical abuse(they throw darts at his back) without any resistance.

However for Boxer, this just makes him all the more look like a bad person. Doesn't help that he was about to throw a rock at an innocent dog that wasn't even attacking him. For me at least that is enough to make him almost irredeemable. Actually when you stack the shit he did to Sora yeah definitely unforgivable.

Even so though, if the author wanted to make it so that the group forgives him, they should've put a lot more effort in doing so. To my memory, not once does he apologize or feel genuine remorse for the things he put Sora through, which may I remind you includes MAKING HIM ATTEMPT TO KILL HIMSELF.

And then there's sick girl. Always jealous everyone got to hang out while she was sick. And eventually by the time we reach present day she starts to bully and go along with the plan to exclude Tsugu from their group because she's jealous that she's getting closer to Boxer when she knows she's in love with him. Eventually when she's left alone in school the other girls start to bully her (for the same reason she bullied Tsugu) whatever whatever. She wasn't just fucking boring but she was also a total prick for no reason. I abhor this character and she gets away with her behavior with even less scratches than Boxer. At least Boxer got socked in the face and his ass handed to him by a pro boxer and his fellow delinquents. This girl gets bullied, yes, which is bad, but she never has to face her sins to the people she wronged. Not in any meaningful way at least.

Which makes the rushed conclusion so much worse. I like the idea of spending more chapters having the characters mend each other's relationships. They don't need to fully forgive but I just need them to be able to develop a bit more instead of accepting things from the get go. Author had the right idea to make Sora dislike Boxer for most of the story and refuse to help him, but it doesn't feel like it pushes through ever.

Overall this manga is a victim of having two severely mishandled characters ruin a lot of the emotional core and developments it had set up. It was too rushed and the destination, while fine in a vacuum, came in far too soon for it to have a genuine positive effect. Do I recommend this manga? Well sure, it has a lot of interesting story beats still. I just personally found it too distasteful in how it treats forgiving two of the characters that it soured most of my experience in the latter half of the manga. 6/10

Kin no Hitsuji is about change and growth. Both are essential aspects of life for most of us, which causes the story to be relatable. The four main characters are stuck in their past and are suffering because of it. In general, this is a good story.
Tsugu is the force that brings about changes and development in the plot. She's energetic, upbeat, naive, and strong ( mentally). She lives in a house of women: If I recall correctly, the family is made up of her mother, her sister, and two little girls (her sister's daughters, I believe). I highlighted that to show Tsugu is ... surrounded by independent women and therefore is one of them. It's an essential quality for the series. I'll explain better. However, Tsugu and her friends are all stuck, she's the one who actively faces the problem and tries dealing with the situation and eventually cause the others to do the same.
Their problem is not the biggest or the most serious in the world. One could think, "oh, that's silly, they're overreacting..." and it wouldn't be wrong, but I think that's what relates to us, average problems that most of us have experienced or, for the younger ones here, are still experiencing. However, the core of their difficulties relates to all of us, regardless of age.
The story doesn't delve into the characters, and the reason is that I think they are too many for such a short story. Still, I do believe it's enough to enjoy the story.

Now, about Love Letter, the great one-shot that comes with it:

This is a pretty impressive view of the subject of love. For such a short story, it manages to make good characters and a great quality plot.
Love letter chooses to show the big picture, showing the gray areas in our concept of good and evil. At the end of the story, I felt sadness and pity for the main characters. When I saw the situation that leads Asako to despair, it was difficult to classify her as evil or good. Like most of us, she`s someone in the middle, making her a person deserving the reader`s attention and care. (I`m not trying to justify her actions) As an average person, when pushed to the edge, it`s evident that her story wouldn`t end up well.
On the other side, Tomoya`s (had to look for his name; it appears only once in the story, rsrs) love for her mother (Asako) amazed me. It`s Love with a capital letter. We can`t classify that as a love of mother and son or between friends or any sort. It`s love truly beyond form and limit. It`s caring at the utmost level, and it`s a choice. This love is wholesome, beautiful, and sad—the meeting and matching of two souls.

The Golden Sheep review. From the covers you can tell this is gonna be a nice wholesome series.

And like any wholesome series we start with attempted suicide. Like all the kids do.

The series starts off with a guy trying to kill himself by lighting some candles or whatever is a sealed car. Choking himself to death and being saved by a random girl. Later we find out that the random girl our FMC went back to the her hometown after living away for a while and met all her childhood friends. The underlying theme of this story is how much things change whilst some remain ... the same. We see these pretty easily through small flashbacks and side by side panel comparison throws in. The story revolves around 4 childhood friends.

The series is deceptively dark much to my surprise. It's made by the same author who made As the Gods lie. I wasn't a big fan of that series though I didn't hate it either. This felt more fleshed out and more enjoyable overall due to the personality and likeability of the main heroine. The main heroine is adorable. She is all smiles and laughs a lot. Her presence in the series brights up the pages. It's always nice to see her just exist mostly due to the fact that all her friends have these dark histories around them.

The 2nd female lead (FMC2) is just a simp. Honestly I didn't like her. I'd be surprised if anyone did. She was annoying and bitchy to the female lead who i was totally not in love with. Her Drama was the fact that she kept feeling excluded and though I understood her point of view. She was still quite a bitch.

The MMC grew on me. He was the whole I'm weak, I get bullied etc etc kinda schmuk. However his character development and growth was natural and had a dramatic flair to it. I think the author lucked out on this guy. At the end of the series I quite liked him. Especially when he did finally stand up for himself.

The 2nd male lead (MMC2) is worse than FMC2 if you can believe that. I don't want to spoil anything as this is a spoiler free review. But he's a piece of shit. Like for real probably the 2nd worst character in the series not even joking. But a garbage human being.

Being a short series there really isn't much for me to talk about. I think the author handled things as well as she could have. The complaints are obvious. But the dramatic moments have the needed effect that the author was trying to convey.

The romance was lacking. For a series tagged romance. I was hoping for something more conclusive but we can only get so much shit. As the gods lie the author's previous work was also lacking in the romance department. There is no but. Stop tagging her series as romance when clearly it isn't good enough.

TLDR: Though it's not anything special. I think its still enjoyable to kill some time. 6/10

Well. I think this Manga deserves a bigger than short review. ( Scroll to the bottom to summarise this review )

TWs :

Honestly there was that “one scene”. It was short and not really drawn out and it didn’t even happen kinda. TW


Story [6/10] :

I did enjoy the story very much but the part that was missing and that greatly impacted the score for the story is the thing, the story doesn’t HAVE MUCH to it. Essentially, it’s NOT ENOUGH. This manga deserves more volumes increasing the intensity of the story rather than it being plain and dense. Now hear me out, the story that they ... had was enjoyable! I just wished they extended it more and added a bit more of a storyline. Basically, I’m just a weeb who is enjoying a manga and is wanting more of it.


Art [10/10] :

Okay. Now when I say HEAR ME OUT, just HEAR ME OUT. This art is drenched with ink. Go to MAL’s anime store and preview any Kin No Hitsuji volume and you will see. No. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It was enjoyable for me and it might be for you too.


Character [10/10] :

I just can’t believe how well the characters were depicted. The development is just chef’s kiss. You really get a feel of every character and a small SOL few pages into the main character’s lives and their true feelings.


Enjoyment [9/10] :

9 because yk the story rating..


SUMMARISED REVIEW / Overall : [9/10] :

{Overall rating was calculated by finding the average and adding decimals}

Kin no Hitsuji (The Golden Sheep) is a roller coaster ride experiencing emotions and feelings. For example, Anger, Jealousy, Depressed, Joy, Love, Completed. ETC.
It’s all in this manga. This manga is a mess. In a good way. It’s a manga I would even recommend to beginners. It’s short which might appeal to some people. It follows genres of Short Poly SOLs, Shojo to a discrete point, and the common western categories, adventure, romance, friends, etc.

Beauty. Another example of why I love manga. It gives me everything that the socially incapable or whatever I myself have hindered myself from acquiring. I learn something from most of the manga I read.. Or at least repeat a somewhat faded lesson..
With this story that lesson revisited is.. That I should not be fixed in on my inner burning of bridges.. I should perhaps always leave some room for forgiveness when I am suffering and some room for love when all I feel is hate.
There is romance and some tough scenes which I love because I interpret it all as the genuine striving by ... the author to do their best at convey the story that they are translating from their imagination into a manga. I love this. It's short and meaningful. Also, the main character is very cute (Tsugu). To add on to that, the entire art is splendid and without a single weak point.

Additionaly, the single chapter story in the last volume is made out of absolute love that I can't currently comprehend and that makes it interesting and lovely. It's somethijg I've never thought about which is big since I was 28 at the time when I've read this story.

This is going to be my 1st review, but I feel obliged to do so, as this manga has torn me apart this much (one of the only ones to bring a tear to my eye).

From an outsider's point of view, this is a classic romance/friendship manga. The drawings, magnificent and rather cheerful in appearance, could not have made us doubt for a second that the author would talk about so many serious subjects in just 16 chapters.

But despite the fact that the story talks about all these subjects, the author's intended message was this: Renewal, but above all forgiveness and rebirth. Every character ... has suffered the consequences of his or her actions, even if it was through the actions of others. All the characters were relatively well-developed and complex, despite the series' length.

Let me conclude by saying that I highly recommend this series, which will take you through every possible emotion. Don't get hung up on preconceptions or the drawings, and throw yourself into this story, which I'm sure will leave a lasting impression on you =D

Mod Edit: This review was original posted for Love Letter and has subsequently been merged into Kin no Hitsuji.


What if, before we were born, we all had a chance to choose our mothers?

This short and sweet one-shot relates the tale of one soul who does his best to make his mother happy, regardless of the circumstances.

Story, 6: There are definitely some rather cliche tearjerking moments in the story, but I enjoyed the premise and thought the different avenues of life both the soul and the mother follow were touching.

Art, 7: There were some particularly nice panels featuring the characters crying, and the rest ... of the one-shot was fairly standard.

Characters, 6: The young soul's obsession with his mother doesn't make much sense to an adult reader, but if one were to try to put themselves in the mindset of a child with utter reverence for their mother, I think his motivations become more clear. The side characters in heaven felt distinct, but I was fairly underwhelmed with the mother (there were moments of development but she had a notable lack of screentime and fairly generic tragic plotline).

Enjoyment, 7: It was a quick read with some touching moments and, again, I enjoyed the intriguing premise.

Overall, 6: My major qualms were with the cliche story beats, but I would nonetheless recommend this for fans of sentimental titles or those that also find the idea of choosing one's mother interesting.

The boxer guy didn’t just assault his friend and take advantage of her feelings and got away with it easily without it being mentioned in the story later on at all.

Tsugu is the only character in the entire manga that I actually liked, She’s very energetic and bright and a really cute character overall. The baker boy was pretty okay, the other two are the only ones I have problems with. The glasses girl didn’t have any personality whatsoever, and we pretty much weren’t really able to see much of her character. The boxer guy, well, I dislike everything about him. He had no growth ... and didn’t at all get to understand the consequences of his actions. If only he did, the series would’ve been a lot more powerful and better.