Hinamatsuri

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As there are a lot of other reviews, i will skip most of the stuff covered by other reviewers.

This manga is a ridiculous mix of yakuza + espers from future + normal highschoolers + few adults from various walks of life. The comedy is always on point. Having such a wide variety of characters also allows the manga to focus on different characters (and their interactions) in various chapters. Although Hina/Nitta are the main MC pair, we have a secondary cast of characters who are atleast as popular. Hitomi's rise or Anzu's heartwarming adventures are always wholesome.

Despite going past 100 chapters, you never ... feel like a chapter is boring. Although there is a plot, it is almost always in the background while the comedy drives the series slowly progressing the plot towards its climax.

Fortunately, this manga establishes the mood right from chapter 1. So, if you can read a few chapters, you know exactly what you are getting into. I really wished for Nitta to be married by the end of the series, but it is not that much of a dealbreaker.

Hinamatsuri is about a girl with psychic powers (Hina) who randomly appears in the apartment of a mid-level yakuza boss. The yakuza reluctantly takes her in as his own daughter. Wacky hijinks ensue in this episodic comedy about the growing relationship between these two characters.

There is a time-skip about half-way through that ruined this series for me.

This series is way more endearing and funny when Hina and the other characters are kids. When they become teenagers however, it's a lot less wholesome. It's a shame.

I would highly recommend the first 47 chapters Hinamatsuri. That first half is a solid 8/10. It then drops in ... major quality.

[Note]
Despite the inclusion of yakuza, this is pure comedy without drama or anything

Story: 6/10
The side stories redeemed this manga, the growth of Anzu was great and Hitomi's gradual build up was bloody hilarious. The final arc was stupid in the best of ways and I loved it.

Those are the manga's only redeeming factors to be honest. There is no growth for anyone else (except Mao becoming not insane). Hina has her moments but is essentially the same, even in the 2-part final. This is a death knell for a comedy series, it gets repetitive and hearing the same joke twice is never funny. Nitta never ... grows either but he really a vehicle for jokes or the foil to Hina so it's not a problem

Art: 5/10
Not bad but not good. All characters have those weird doughy faces that you see in mediocre manga. The backgrounds are pretty good but many panels have plain grey or white background.

Characters: 3/10
I hate pretty much all the characters here.

The real problem is that Hina never grows as a person. She is constantly the unlikable, spoiled brat who gets everything done for her. Even in the final, she puts no effort in, even with the random motivation the author pulls out of a hat for her from one random panel in a previous chapter.

Anzu is a lovable cinnamon roll who actually grows as a person and is likable. Hitomi is… normal, which is exactly what makes the story around her hilarious. Mao is kind of just there, we don't get much out of her beside the jokes about the dolls (it makes sense in context), she feels very shoehorned in because the author felt he needed another character.

I actually like Nitta, his vase obsession is a good gag and he's relatively normal despite his gang affiliation. His normalcy combined with his job is what drives the comedy in many cases, relying on Hina to do gangster-like things

A lot of the side characters are very bland and get some chapters together, nothing interesting and they take away from the few good characters.

Overall: 4/10
I wasn't sure if I was actually going to finish this or drop it but I stuck it out in the end. I'm surprised to be giving this manga such a bad score when there's so much hype for it but it just doesn't click with me to be honest. Maybe I just don’t like the comedy but it felt like a drag at times, even near the end I was skimming chapters. I dislike most characters, I just can’t stand the main character most of the time. This would be a 3 or a 2 if not for the few redeeming factors it has: the loony ending, Anzu (in general) and Hitomi's story arc. I mention them a lot throughout this review and that's because they're the only bits I liked. Some other parts were funny sure, but I've seen much better.

Of course this is all subjective, there seems to be raving reviews otherwise, so maybe this manga just isn’t a fit for me. Read the other reviews and come to your own conclusion, comedy in any media is even more subjective than any other genre and you may love this.