Kuzu no Honkai
Scum's Wish

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WARNING: This review contains explicit language.

Kuzu no Honkai is the only manga I've completed with a fast pace. This is also the first revie that I'm going to publish for a Manga here in MAL because I cannot keep myself from shading my thoughts because this fucking manga has scarred me big time.

Character: 10
I love them and I hate them. I love Mugi and Hanabi and I just fucking shipped them throughout the whole time I was reading this Manga. I'll continue on shipping them till the day I return to dust but at the same time I also hated them occasionally for being so ... fucked up and for being so stupid. I also hated Akane, that fucking slut. But when it came to the last chapters of the manga, I started to hate myself as well because I slowly sympathized her and came to "understand" her but I still feel conflicted about it but I just can't help it and the fact that Hanabi also said; Her confidence is flawless and I kind of want to have that typenof confidence too.
The rest of the characters were also far from being just mediocre side characters. Even they have fucked up mentalities and I think that's what makes this manga relatable and realistic because everyone of us is fucked up too. *Sobs*

Art: 8
The art is a fucking trap. At first it gives you the false impression of a Shoujo manga. Well Surprise MF! You could also prob feel turned on with all the bed scenes and shit but trust me it only lasts until you get to the middle because when you get there, no matter how hot the bed scenes are, all you're going to be able to say is "WTF R YOU GUYS DOING".

Story: 10
Like I said, at the end of every chapter you'll always have that WTF reaction but there's this certain urge inside you that wants to dig in deeper as the story progresses and you're gonna realize the author and her characters are slowly fucking up you brain but its probably too late to back out now so instead you embrace reading this sinful manga.

Overall its a 10. Even if the ending wasn't the conclusion I wanted it was what Mugi, Hanabi and I needed. Yes, I am now part of it. I can't help it. It's haunted me ever since.

Read it. Just read it. Stop looking at those reviews with a 7 below rating. Trust me. Let's all get fucked up by a fucking manga.

Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish) is essentially for people who enjoy seeing the messy, selfish side of others. Through and through, this manga remains true to being a window into the lives of those struggling with the ugly side of love.

Despite the romance tag, this manga is anything but lovey-dovey. While there may be some cute moments, the focus is very squarely on the lust side of love. Put simply, it's a representation of adult love performed naively by teenagers well out of their depth.

If you are a fan of realistic characters and mild drama without melodrama, then this is certainly worth a shot. Overall, ... Kuzu no Honkai is a strong entry into the "realistic, ugly love" genre.

As for why I've only given it a strong 6/10, this manga is strong in the areas that matter for enjoying it as it is, but doesn't do much else. As such, if your tastes were to deviate slightly from what this manga is delivering, it may turn you off fairly quickly.

At only 47 chapters, Kuzu no Honkai is a relatively short read and it only takes a few chapters to figure out whether or not its in your ballpark so there's no reason not to give this one a go if it interests you.

I want to like Kuzu No Honkai, I really do. But I just can't, and here's why.

Art: 8
First and foremost I'd like to praise the superficial, the art. I adore Yokoyari Mengo's art, it's very well done. Each of the character's design feel unique and somehow colorful. Mengo's greatest achievement in Kuzu No Honkai was definitely her art. This is the only aspect of the manga I have very concrete positive feelings for.

Character: 6
Next the character, this is a double edged blade. It was simultaneously good and bad. Characters felt like they could be real people, they were relatable and all but one felt competent. ... Almost all of us can relate to loving someone who won't love us. And Mugi and Hanabi's sexual solace in each other while unhealthy, is understandable. On the other hand a lot of their actions and emotions feel completely unjustified and frankly illogical. Almost childish. Specifically Kanai's (and Mugi's) love for Akane. It makes absolutely zero sense. What does he love about her? Think about it. Everything he knows about her is total bullshit. The only thing he knows for sure, is that she's a pretty face. Why would he willingly commit to being a cuckold? "To make her happy". That's not an answer, why does he want to make her happy, why does he love her. He doesn't know enough about her to love her. It's childish. It's one thing to love someone despite their faults, but to love someone with seemingly no redeeming qualities is just ridiculous. Either that or he's a masochist who want's to be cheated on. In which case, whatever. I'm not going to argue with the disturbing fetish that is netorare.

Another issue with the character in this story is that the characters has this nasty little regression habit. They'd make a little progress, show a sign of moving on only to hit a wall, give up, have a little emotionless sex and go back to a world of self pity. I feel that no one in this manga had any meaningful character development. I feel that given the opportunity, Mugi, Ecchan, or Hanabi, would immediately hop into the arm's of their first love.

Almost none of the characters were likable. Yea you could empathize with them, which is important and good. But empathy means jack shit if you don't like them. Hanabi constantly acts like a victim. Always giving into her surroundings and scarcely making a choice for herself. Mugi is a delusional idiot who believes his first love is infallible. Akane doesn't need anything said about her. She's just a sociopath. And Kanai is just a man child. Ecchan was a good attempt, but had this nasty habit of taking advantage of her love, leading me to believe she more infatuated than inlove. And Moca, my favorite, just fell in love with an idea, the idea of a prince and princess. She's almost a reverse of Kanai and Akane, except Mugi isn't nearly an awful person as Akane.

Story: 2
Finally the story, Kuzu No Honkai's great short coming. I have two things to say about the story. First and foremost, it is my belief that a story is only as good as it's ending. And Kuzu No Honkai's ending was frankly shit. It end with a sociopath marrying a manchild who claims to love her when he knows nothing about her, and our two main characters who actually move on (which is good) just deciding "this person who helped me through the darkest time of my life to date, who I probably love, lets just completely cut them out of my life". People are saying this is a fitting and lovely ending. I think it's illogical and emotionally regressive.
Second, it feels like this story never had a clear ending in sight. Any good story teller knows two things when they begin to write a story. It's beginning, and it's ending. Kuzu No Honkai felt like it knew's it's beginning, but had no damn idea what the hell was going to happen after that. It just threw side characters at us and the "resolved" the story. What do I mean? It felt like Ecchan, and Moca were just there to kill time and attempt to add some more sympathetic characters.

Enjoyment: 1
Kuzu No Honkai never had the intention of making anyone happy. It simply expressed the fact that there is misery in the world and that we have to deal with it. Kuzu No Honkai had no intention of creating any enjoyment and I certainly didn't find any.

This manga lived up to it's name.