Machida-kun no Sekai
The world of Machida-kun

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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

Just what is a masterpiece? Perhaps it's something that greatly affects one's thought process, or maybe for some, it's a piece of work that mesmerises them to such a degree, that they are never able to forget said creation. Machida-kun no Sekai to me, is a masterpiece, in the truest sense of the word. Why is this the case? Well, it is very simple; this is a series that I have come away from with an evolved outlook on life. After reading this, I felt as though I had ... become truly enamoured of the world. A sense of rejuvenation, some may call it. This manga, to a degree, has changed the way I choose to live, for the better.

Story: 10/10

This story is one that flows very well. Each chapter, we face a new scenario. And yet with each new scenario, there is familiarity. Something fascinating about Machida-kun no Sekai is that it does not follow the usual construction of a manga. The characters do not live according to the story, but rather, the story progresses through the way the characters choose to live. As such, I became infatuated with the style of the series. With each new chapter, it feels as though you are watching a great story unfold, but a story you hold close to your heart because it is not so far off from what you may perceive to be reality. In essence, this story is a heart-warming tale of a young man's love for the world, and how that allows him to venture through the motions of life while helping others attain that same balance.

Art: 10/10

In my own opinion, art is a truly relative subject. Great art for a particular series may become not-so-great art if placed upon another series. However, the art for Machida-kun no Sekai is a superb match. It is apparent that each stroke of the brush that has been put into this work has been enacted with such fine detail. And yet, that fine detail is in its own sense an oxymoron in and of itself, as it is what divulges the simplicity of the story that has been laconically imbued throughout each chapter.

Character: 10/10

While most series' are driven by their deep, complex, thrilling or often simplistically pleasing stories, this is one that is truly propelled by the characters. Machida-kun no Sekai is not something that tries too hard to be what it is not, and that's why it succeeds. How does it succeed at this? Through constantly evolving, changing, self-aware and relatable characters. Generally, if a story depicting life in it's most natural and mortal state allows one to step into the mind of its characters, one would feel much more of a resonance with that particular story. This is why this manga succeeds. Machida-kun no Sekai does not tell of a far-away tale of youth that none may ever experience in the real world, but instead of a life very close to home that many of us have lived, or at least in some sense, experienced.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Enjoyment is subjective, as it should be. However, for anyone looking for something that allows you to experience joyful slice of life elements with a touch of wisdom, this manga is a great choice. If you come into this looking for a high school tale that follows the synopsis, then I have no doubt that this series will evoke a great deal of delight from you.

Overall: 10/10

Just what is a masterpiece? For a manga to be a masterpiece, must it tick the box of becoming a 10 in each category? Must it be something profound, pretentious or critically acclaimed? To be honest, who really knows for sure? If I had to give my own interpretation of the word, I would say... a masterpiece is something that you can look at as more than just a piece of work. Something that becomes an experience, perhaps even a treasured artifact to somebody. More than anything, it is something that takes the form of an inspiration. It is not just a fleeting moment in your life, but instead, something you often remark upon, and are always consciously aware of. As to why I have chosen to give this manga the mantle of a masterpiece, that is because overall, Machida-kun no Sekai has taken that form for me. With no use of hyperboles, it is a series that I have only just completed, and as a very cynical person, I feel that I have taken a more optimistic approach to things. A truly inspiring piece of work, that is how I feel about this manga. Very rarely will you come across a manga that reminds you just why you became a fan of the medium in the first place, for me, this is one of those very, very few series'.

And so now I don't ask you, but myself: 'Just what is a masterpiece?'. Well... this, is a masterpiece.

Machida-kun no Sekai is a pièce de résistance in the first half. A jesus-like protagonist delivering therapy in every interaction is difficult to write without feeling like hamfisted wholesomeness, but mangaka Andou Yuki manages to pass effortlessly by surrounding the ML with a perceptive support network that has adapted to his MC powers. In between highlight reels of Machida killing new characters with his kindness, these old hands step in to fill in the gaps, providing reaction, observation, and context to Machida’s humanist views, as well as lampshading Machida’s outrageousness in an humorous but realistic way. They are the real magic of Machida-kun and are ... what sell the story, and without them, Machida would come across more as a walking fortune cookie dispenser. Also, the mangaka is outstanding at drawing apt reaction faces, one of my favorite and underrated qualities in an artist.

However, if you were to rank every chapter-lesson by their punch, it’s obvious that the earlier chapters just hit different. By the end of volume 4 or chapter 14, the new character per chapter approach starts to become stale. The lessons are less inspired, more fortune cookie-ish, and most importantly, lack the level of integration of older characters previous chapters had because they involve only Machida plus one. They also strain credulity with how willing strangers are to show vulnerability and open up about their base desires. The later chapters aren’t offensive, but they lack elevation to stand above similar manga. It coasts along on earlier momentum and keeps you interested mostly by regularly going back to the romance development, and subtly showing the passage of time as chapters are weeks or months apart in story.

Instead of growing the cast wider, I would have preferred sequel stories with earlier characters, who stopped existing outside brief cameos in the last chapter. The aunt provided a particularly powerful earlier chapter and should have been followed up before the ending. A lesson with the “wingman” trope Sakae, who was relegated to story facilitation and immune to Machida, may have been interesting. If nothing else, less panels would have been wasted in backstory for throwaway characters. At the end of the day, it’s a short and sweet (but not overly so) manga that leaves a memorable impression.

TL:DR
Ham-fisted and childish. Predictable trite. Actively frustrating Mary Sue protagonist with a cast of cardboard cut-outs and stock aesop characters plus a romance that falls flat. Do not recommend. Would actually be a good series for children though (that's not sarcasm) to teach them basic morals.

Story: 3/10
The focus of the manga is ostensibly Machida-kuns growth and yet he also doesn't really change in anyway. He's essentially perfect at the beginning of the manga and at the end the only real difference is that he's in love. What growth was there?

The messages the manga tried to deliver are the standard shounen stuff, be kind to others ... etc. However, the delivery is so ham-fisted it makes me cringe. Considering the majority of this manga is delivering these trite platitudes, this is a significant problem.

It's almost insulting how simple and easy things work out. You can't make me care about what's happening in the chapter when every chapter follows the same pattern. Someone with complicated issues meets Jesus-kun (aka Machida) and within the chapter they've found the meaning of life, turned their life around and won the lottery. It's ridiculous and it robs any sense of importance or drama from the manga when we know Machida will fix an problem he sees in a few pages.

I actually didn't know the manga was a romance when I started reading it, it's clearly not the focus for the majority of the run-time yet the ending seems to rely on the romance to hammer the point home. Unfortunately, the romance wasn't very interesting, both Inohara and Machida are flat characters who aren't very interesting together.

Character: 3/10
Machida is the ultimate Mary Sue. Everyone falls in love with him immediately after meeting him, figuratively or literally. One character is kind of explicitly gay for him. A teacher falls in love with him and confesses her feeling within a day of meeting. Do you see how incredibly annoying this is? I want to read a manga, not a fan club for a fictional character. He's supposed to be a super nice guy, and make no mistake that does come across in the manga but most of what he does feels so surface level that the entire cast fawning over him feels incredibly forced. There honestly isn't much else to say about the main character beyond: he is nice and he solves everyone's problems. We get some insight into how he feels and his views on the world but it's absolutely shallow, everyone in the world is his friend and family blah blah. Surface level stuff that we teach children. By the end of the manga I absolutely despised Machida, both for the false ‘deep’ philosophy and the over the top Mary Sue nonsense he pulls off. He feels like a parody of a caricature of a shounen protagonist but it's entirely unironic.

Inohara is supposed to be the love interest and is the key behind Machida growing as a person. This is a mistake because she has no personality. Her one problem is resolved instantly and then she becomes the generic doe-eyed love interest the author needed her to be. I honestly could not describe her personality to you. She's good with her hands? That's the only thing I can think of, and only because the manga explicitly points it out because she painted someone's nails once. The ending of the manga is clearly about Machida's growth, as shown through his relationship with Inohara. This might could have been good if Inohara wasn't a hollow character with no real chemistry with Machida. Basically she was bullied and so is truant constantly, then Machida says a few words to her and now she's fine. Then she falls in love with him immediately. They hang out a little bit, Machida is as dense as a typical shounen protagonist, pervs on peoples hands for a bit and then they get together. Yeah. he's grown so much, from a perfect messiah to a perfect messiah with a girlfriend.

No one else really matters, they're all just Machida's fan club. There are few other reoccurring characters either. In fact, one character is saved by machida jesus and then basically just hangs around in the background of a few chapters so it looks like he has actual friends.

Art
Decent art. Not amazing but not bad. Nothing more to say here.

Overall: 3/10
Cringe-inducing, that's how I would describe this manga. It was such a frustrating read, seeing complex topics being simplified into “well Machida-kun is just so nice, it all resolves it self”, one man's marriage is saved by simply being in the presence of Machida! Machida isn't even aware of it! That's basically how all of the chapters that aren't romance focused go and it's not only incredibly boring, it's all just so shallow. The romance itself is barely present and the love interest is so bland that I just don't care.

I don't recommend this to anyone but young children.