Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches)

Dec 8, 2017

YingZhe

Mixed Feelings

I'm not overly fond of shonen harem series, but they can be tolerable, and shonen stuff is typically better when helmed by a female author. "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" is a fairly enjoyable shonen series, although it's by no means perfect. There are a few big plot holes that get waved over in the final rush to clear up all the mysteries, and the series loses focus past the first arc(s) by creating unnecessarily convoluted melodrama while retaining predictable outcomes.

That said, I did enjoy the series. The art was reasonably well done, and the characters were lots of fun (particularly Urara and Miyamura), although ... plenty of them are either totally dropped from the plot or are reduced to one-dimensionality. Although readers who stretch this manga out over a very extended period of time are less likely to notice this, anyone who reads it quickly will be sure to see these flaws.

I wasn't particularly interested in solving the "mystery" of the supernatural elements of the series. They're fun without question, but were better served as an excuse for character interactions, especially early on. The development between total opposites Urara and Yamada was especially good because of this, but once things settle into full-on Harem mode after the initial arc it kind of gets dull.

One thing that I considered a bit weak was the ecchi. I'm never much of an ecchi fan (preferring actual erotic, sexual, and romantic content as opposed to fan service), but I was hopeful that the series would strike a better balance than it ended up doing. In the initial arc there are moments of great chemistry between Yamada and Urara, and lots of genuinely erotic moments that come up naturally over the course of their relationship. Unlike many shonen female leads, Urara is 100% in control of her sexuality and when this is displayed fully the series strikes gold. Considering there are both shonen and shojo series that handle sexual relationships in a much more natural and realistic way I don't think that my criticisms are asking too much. Sacrificing romance and healthy sexuality in favour of fan service is always disastrous to the narrative, and "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" definitely lacks both romantic and sexual payoff despite all the erotic buildup (largely in the first arc, and occasionally past that).

My final complaint has to do with the ending. I absolutely hate the style of ending used in "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo." Not because it failed to give me what I wanted (aside from some nitpicks surrounding secondary characters and certain details it was satisfactory plot-wise), but because there's a time skip, and structurally it took me out of the moment. The ending is pretty common to shonen mangas however, so if you aren't the type that minds these things then be at ease. Overall the manga is quite strong, and I recommend it to people who are into shonen manga and like romance, but don't want it to be the most dominant or sole element of the storytelling. If, however, you're coming in looking for a romance with other concerns and narrative diversions then "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" might be of slightly less appeal.

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Feb 23, 2017

loungyoo

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (206/246 chp)

RAW thoughts:

I don't usually write reviews, but I had to get my thoughts out after getting up to around 200 chapters into this series. I know that this series is labeled as a harem manga, but I could not stand how drawn out the story became after 200 chapters with the MC and the MG (main girl). It was as if the author was actively trying to keep them apart for as long as possible so that the series couldn't end.

My main problem was that once I got to around 200 chapters, I think I knew more about the side characters and MC than ...

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Feb 16, 2019

Zurel

Mixed Feelings

I really love the original concept about this manga and up to the end of first arc, I thought it was perfect. The characters are interesting and full of life, and their relationships give colours to the story. The plot is full of twists and turns and kept me hooked.

However, I guess it was just so good that the manga became too popular. Because of that, it had to continue, with new sets of witches and plot twists. More characters are introduced, and because there are too many of them, sometimes the original characters get suppressed and do not appear for months. And because of ...

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Jan 29, 2021

waethrman

Mixed Feelings

If you want a solid 9/10 reading experience, you're best off quitting the story after the first arc, somewhere in the chapter 80s area. More fun moments, exciting kisses, heartfelt moments, and a genuine feel of mystery and conflict happen in these chapter than the remaining 180 chapters , which is truly a shame.

Any complaints I have are found really exclusively in these later chapters, and my complaints have really solely to do with the story. There's many good characters that make you care for their lives, the art is rather pretty and never a negative distraction like some manga can be, but neither ... of these things will save you from a thoroughly frustrating, repetitive, and often neutered story

Harem: honestly I don't know why it even has this tag. MC has eyes for only first girl despite kissing pretty much every character in the manga. This is the most monogamous "harem" I have ever read in my life; and normally that would be fine with me as I enjoy standard romance but...

Lack of romance/romance tease: if we are reading solely to enjoy the romance of MC with main girl , then that should pay off. Instead, after the first arc, we see less and less of her and due to plot reasons she even starts to keep her distance from him and act somewhat cold. When plot does allow her to come back to him and attempt romance, it feels very flat. They go to some bookstores, walk home together, but you often get little more than a smile from her and saying she's happy. Several moments in the story we see hints at the beginning of a more physical/sexual relationship, but each and every time it ends in a gag: such as a body switching joke by his male best friend or the MC cockblocking himself so hard when the girlfriend sleeps over at his house that all of his friends wind up feeling sorry for the girlfriend and ridiculing MC. I get that this is a shonen, but for God's sake I would have killed to see them sleep in the same bed together in eachothers arms

Overused plot devices, useless plotlines, and plotholes: I'd like to avoid getting into any real spoilers, but the memory wipe and everyone forgetting about MC (or another person) happens I believe 5 times, during which MC must painstakingly work to get everyone's memory's back over and over and over again and each time MC has to confess his love all over again. We're supposed to think it's cute and destiny for them to stay together but it honestly drags on and further emphasizes the fact that their relationship hardly makes any progress after the two become boyfriend girlfriend. In the very latter chapters, when they attempt to explain the witch powers and how they came to be, it honestly ruins the magic of things in a way and only opens up so many unnecessary questions. Meanwhile, time wasn't spent to explain to us properly how MC got his magic power and what it reflects upon him as to what it is he felt he was lacking in life (since it's said the witch powers are granted according to the wishes each user has)

If I had to sum everything up, I would say that everything after the first arc felt like an enormous romantic blue balling only to end in a ten year time skip where we are supposed to feel satisfied by the end results of off screen romance, marriage, and children.

(PS Noa best girl)

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Oct 27, 2018

zeralul

Mixed Feelings

It dragged on too long for my tastes, some big plot points were never explained, and the later arcs and their drama seemed contrived. It never got so bad to the point where I stopped reading, but I distinctly remember saying to myself, "Oh, THIS is how they write it so the manga could keep going forever." Obviously, it does end, which is good because if it was any longer, I don't think I would have been able to take it.

I felt that it suffered from "too many cooks!" syndrome. While most new characters eventually get explored (figuratively and literally), most aren't fleshed out ...

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Aug 28, 2019

jofbub

Mixed Feelings

Yamada-kun is in a word; frustrating. I’ll preface this by saying that I did enjoy reading this manga, there are a lot of good points that make it a fun read. However there are also some things that – to me – made reading this a frustrating experience. There will be a few spoilers in this review, I’ll try to keep them light though.

First, I’ll start with the good – the characters. Most of what makes this a fun read is the characters. Yamada-kun has a diverse range of interesting, funny personalities, and some of the best parts are simple interactions between the characters. The ... manga also portrays realistic relationships between a lot of them, something I can appreciate when compared to other school life/ harem manga. Some highlights would be Miyamura and Itou who are downright hilarious. The manga also has some good character development for a lot of side characters, but struggles when it comes to the mains, particularly Shiraishi. Now I will say that she receives good development at the start of the manga, but for most of it remains as a blank slate who just acts as a love interest for Yamada – the main character. She is particularly bad in the second half the manga, but this is the case for a lot of the characters, as the writing went downhill after the first arc. A lot of characters struggle, and I think this is because there is such a wide range of characters.

The art in Yamada-kun is decent, but nothing too special. What I liked about it was character expressions, which were unique and really well portrayed. The other thing, which the author took special note of, is the character traits between different bodies. As body-switching is a main part of the story, the author did a good job of showing how different a person acts when in another’s body, like how they walk, talk, and act around certain people. While it was exaggerated at times it was a good approach and was often beneficial to the comedy or story.

In terms of story, this manga is a mixed bag. In my opinion it starts off strong, there are a lot of interesting things to be found out with the mystery of the witches at the school. However after the first arc the story is massively downgraded, and it skips over plot hole after plot hole, rushing through random arcs. It lost a lot of direction around 100 chapters in, and only ‘sort of’ found its way back some time later. The ending was incredibly frustrating as there were tons of loose ends that were just sort of left open. It was very rushed. One of these cases was also detrimental to Yamada’s character development. Sometime early on the mystery of the witches is a big thing, and Yamada wishes to find out why he got his power to copy other witches’ powers. When I saw this I thought it would be a big point to his character, but it was brought up one other time 200 chapters in, and then left at that. The writing and the pacing were simply frustrating as a reader who wanted to see these characters develop and mysteries solved. Many story arcs were also underwhelming, as many mysteries had been hyped up but then never solved. The story couldn’t seem to find its footing.

So what are my final thoughts, and should you read this manga? Yamada-kun is a fickle story, the story is all over the place, and it struggles to find its place in terms of what it wants to do. In saying that, the characters are funny, interesting, and realistic. If you are going to read this you would be best focusing on the comedy and characters rather than the plot, which is frustrating to think about. I enjoyed reading this the most when I wasn’t concerned with the innumerable plot holes and crappy ending, and when I focused on the characters and relationships portraryed. Overall – a 6/10

TL;DR: Characters really funny and unique, good cast. Story has no direction and is often times frustrating to read, plot holes common, and rushed ending. 6/10

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Jun 8, 2022

gyoshi

Mixed Feelings

I've noticed that a lot of people on here have given reviews for Yamada-kun before they even hit the 100 chapter mark in the story. So, to preface, I've completed the manga, and I'd give the series a solid 6.

Let me start off by saying that, as a whole, I enjoyed the manga. With that being said, the story was bogged down by repetitive plot devices and poor characterization. This holds especially true towards the latter half of the manga, and especially in the last twenty chapters or so.

The manga starts strong, with interesting characters and a fun plot. However, it seems like ...

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Jul 27, 2022

JuJuBeans1

Mixed Feelings

Overall this manga is pretty average, if you liked the anime and want to continue reading it you might like it or not. After the first few volumes the original premise that entices many wares off heavily. The main "gimmick" of the series loses most it not all of its draw as the main cast of characters reaches a point of climax for their character progression. Yet despite that, the series keeps going and going and going. There are a bunch of non-important filler chapters that do not progress anything. The characters stay strong, the art only improves but nothing of importance or memorable happens ...

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Sep 19, 2023

hexashadow13

Mixed Feelings

tl;dr: A manga with a great first third with a pretty solid plot and good character/relationship development, but that then slowly becomes much worse written and just in general less fun to read.

This manga is about a delinquent type student named Yamada getting involved with the seven witches of his high school. These witches have supernatural powers that are activated upon kissing. For example, the main heroine Shiraishi has the power to switch bodies. The first third of the manga involves Yamada, Shiraishi, and the rest of the members of the supernatural studies club that they’ve created, going around and investigating the other witches, trying ... to discover the root behind what’s happening and why. This is somewhat episodic in that each witch has their own issue that needs to be resolved and each witch is dealt with one by one.

Ultimately, this culminates with a grander, larger, and more complicated arc that builds up off of everything that happened up to that point and changes up the story quite a bit. Still, though the circumstances are different, even after that arc it essentially returns to a similar structure to before the arc in that it involves Yamada going around investigating witches again and solving their problems. These parts of the manga I felt were well written and pretty enjoyable. Each of the witches was decently well developed and how their issues were resolved was somewhat satisfying. Both Yamada and Shiraishi had pretty solid character arcs and relationship development. And the side characters were in general handled pretty well too.

The manga changes quite a bit around the half way point, and unfortunately it isn’t for the better. The focus shifts from being about all of the witches powers to instead focusing on a single one, memory manipulation. And as is often the case when this concept becomes the focus, things get really convoluted. That would be okay if this convolution was building towards something, but in this case it felt pretty directionless. It largely felt like there was no overarching plan on where the plot or characters arcs were going to go, or if there was it changed so much in the midst of things that the end result was a muddled mess. Plot wise it feels like it’s just spinning its wheels without moving much a lot of the time, but it also has very abrupt jumps, so the pacing is all screwy. While the first half had a few plot holes as well, they felt pretty minor and the type that are easily overlooked, but in the second half they’re much bigger and really in your face in such a way that it kind of feels like the plot itself makes very little sense at times.

Character arcs in general are handled pretty weakly in the second half because it introduces way too many characters that it doesn’t really know how to use well but seems to try to keep too many of them relevant and thus doesn’t manage to properly focus on anyone. The relationship development between Yamada and Shiraishi also peaks at around the half way point, and for most of the rest of the manga it’s either standing still, or regressing and having to build back up to where it already was. There’s a time skip epilogue where there’s major progress with everyone, but while I’m generally a fan of time skip epilogues, this one felt really forced and thematically off and thus just in general the ending to the manga wasn’t all that satisfying. Also, this manga is a harem manga with there being a lot girls interesting in Yamada, but in general and especially in the second half, it’s pretty terrible at handling this aspect to the point I feel that harem fans will have little to like here while those that hate harems will be put off so it would probably have been better to just not have had that.

The art in the manga is pretty great throughout. Character designs are nice and in general the framing and layouts are used well. There are a lot of really nice extra illustrations as chapter cover pages as well.

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