Jul 28, 2016
Story:
As you'll find during this review, virtually everything about Crescent Moon is pretty moot. It's only slightly above average in all respects, but that makes it for a read that isn't all that bad, nor all that good.
The story doesn't bother to get into incredible detail beyond what it tells you in the simplest of terms, and characters embrace soliloquies left and right. Someone always has something to say even at times that aren't the best time to say it, and other times the things they say or share are completely bogus or required specifically for the story to advance. Certain things happen merely because
...
they should, and other things are just there seemingly because the mangaka thought it'd be neat.
All of the above doesn't make it a bad manga, however. Things work out in the most basic of senses, and I found the story bearably enjoyable as the narrative unfolded. My biggest complaint comes into how limited the story is. There's room for a lot of political discussion, an expanded demon world, more characters, tons of stuff that wasn't really thouched on.
Art:
It's a strange style that's sort of eclectic but has its own way of standing apart from other works. That said, it's one of those works that reminds you that you're reading a manga and not a graphic novel. Things are somewhat overly expressive, some stuff focuses weird, it's a mix of this and that and it comes together to make something unique.
Character designs are interesting, but some of the more vibrant stuff such as the demon forms don't work well on page. It's very difficult to know who or what's on the page, and then what that individual may be doing. It's rather stressful since some of the stuff can be interesting but you're trying desparetely to make sense of a messy drawing spanning 2 pages. It's ridiculous.
Proportions are occasionally off the charts. I'm talking extra big legs, extra long legs, weird hand positions, and improper sized people. One character, Oboro, the whole story looks absolutely terrible, both in design and in his proportions. IT never gets all that much better, either.
Character:
Decent characters. Assuming the translation I read (Tokyopop) was as close to the original as possible, the use of slang was a nice touch to add realism to the many characters. Some narratives don't push slang as it can alienate certain readers who may not understand it as much. That said, there was a time or two I felt slang came across as unfitting during a certain scene or two. However, it's a shounen, and shounen's are more comedic, especially during serious scenes to keep the mood light. Hazard of the territory.
Mahiru, the main protagonist, is a pretty good female lead that feels realistic and feminine. Certian female leads portray a masculine character, so it doesn't really matter that I'm reading a female protagonist since I could just throw in a male and it wouldn't change the story. However, certain aspects of her character are very female in nature and make for an interesting read in a medium that sticks to mostly manish leads and characteristics. She's strong willed, but timid and reserved. Determined, but afraid of her own abilities.
However, just because we have an interesting lead, doesn't mean we have good supporting characters. Well, they're not bad, but nothing in them is special. They're all fairly simple characters with nothing all that different from your usual vast cast of characters. It's kind of dissapointing, but it's not all that bad. There's so much that can be done here, it's ridiculous. I'm talking a whole lot. Are different demons from different area? Do they hold grudges against other races? Why are all demons looked at as just demons? Wouldn't demons have vast amounts of infighting? I bring this up because humans infight, so why isn't there demon infighting?
But, beyond that, it's a whole lot of nothing. It's a simple, cute romance with a fairly good coming of age narrative that's built around somehwat alright characters, so it can't get as in depth as I think it could go. It'd definitely improve a lot of aspects, as well as explain many others.
Enjoyment:
It was alright. I own the manga so I figured at some point I should finish it. It was, in fact, one of the first I had started many years ago, but I picked up the final volume loooong after I had read the previous ones, and had to restart to really know what was going on (or write a proper review.) In the end, it was a fairly alright story that I would have eagerly continued in the hopes of finding a larger story somewhere down the road, but it's all water under the bridge now.
((If you liked this review, check out my other reviews by going to my profile and clicking the 'reviews' tab. I review virtually all anime and manga I find!))
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
