Onanie Master Kurosawa

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Onani Master Kurosawa is something entirely different than what you see at first glance. If you are expecting something erotic or funny, you are looking in the wrong place. Those that can get past the synopsis and exposition will be rewarded, as when you reach the real bulk of the story you will realize just what it has to offer.

It is no secret that this manga deals with mature themes. The problem lies within the fact that it paints the wrong picture for potential readers. The focus is not to be sexually explicit. Rather, it is presented to us in a way that is very ... conservative. It shows nothing more than what is necessary to get the point across. In the big picture, this is not a perverted manga in any sense. It is sweet, heartbreaking, and inspiring.

The story quickly lays the foundation for a school-life setting with a character who has a secret "daily routine". Our main protagonist, Kurosawa, is a guy who cares nothing for interaction with others. He has no friends and has never fallen in love. He converses the minimal amount to simply maintain relations. What he doesn't know is that his seemingly harmless ritual is about to become something that weighs more heavily on him than he could imagine. This story shows us just what can happen when you get in over your head, the consequences of your actions, realizing what you want in life, and much more. Once the plot picks up, you will find yourself always wanting to know what will happen next. The contents are never predictable, and every bit of it is believable. It controls your emotions like a puppet on strings. It will make you feel.

The art is sketched, fitting in perfectly with the mood of the manga. It does a great job of showing character's expressions, using many close-ups and careful shading. Much of the emphasis is on the characters, so the backgrounds are usually simple or non-existent. Overall it is very clean and should bear no complaints.

Characterization is simply amazing. No matter how perverted Kurosawa is portrayed, the fact still remains that he is an incredibly well-rounded, believable, and likable character. The manga has the ability to create Kurosawa as if he were a character born from your own thoughts. While I am not referring to perverted thoughts, his reactions to a given situation are so real that you often think and feel the same way. I felt his anger when he was betrayed, I felt his hopelessness during his hard times, and I felt his happiness when something warmed his heart. Over the course of the plot, Kurosawa changes slowly into an entirely different person. He begins as an introverted kid who violates people in his thoughts with masturbation, yet in the end he becomes undeniably mature. He battles with self-realization, learns of consequences, finds the good in people, and comes to understand what he wants in life. Without a doubt, he is a character that will fill you with emotion.

If any manga is capable of changing my view on a character, it is this one. It does not just tell you how someone feels, it places you in the shoes of a person and allows you to understand it from their point of view. Even if you think a character will play a generally small part, they always end up coming back and influencing Kurosawa in some way. We are allowed to see every character's true thoughts, whether it be directly shown to us or revealed through Kurosawa's deductions. However, you will never feel as though you can predict a character's actions. While they surprise you, every bit of it is believable. This is what depth is all about.

Overall, Onani Master Kurosawa is definitely something you will appreciate reading to the end. It brings us a small introduction and builds off of itself, constantly raising the bar. It gives us a surprisingly large impact that can be found in few other places. To sum it up, it is simply a work of art.

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.". How true is this statement by Arnold Bennett? Before that, can people truly change? Someone who is evil today can really turn into a good person tomorrow? And if it's possible, just how much pain and suffering do we have to go through in order to set things right, in order to change? This manga offers us possible answers for these questions in a rather amazing and unique way.

Onani Master Kurosawa is basically a story about redemption. It is one of my favourite mangas even though it is a ... doujinshi and I've read it twice before writing this review. It is impossible not to give out this one big spoiler that it has, in fact you can probably figure it out just from its synopsis and its ranking. That spoiler is obviously that the story is not a simple parody, but, in fact, gets pretty serious later on. Now with that out of the way, let's begin.

[Story]- 9 - The story is not complex at all. In fact it's rather simple. If you look at it from a shallow perspective it is a simple school life story with a couple of twists thrown in there. So what could it have done to deserve a 9? That is explained by those very twists. One of the best things Onani manages to achieve is the surprise and the impact that the very drastic change from comedy to drama delivers upon the reader. What starts out as a parody of Death Note soon becomes a story that reaches far and wide into the realm of drama, with very interesting and compelling scenes that make it heavy and highly emotional. The first part runs around Kurosawa's peculiar habit and the "deals" he's forced into. That in itself was very amusing, I should say. It manages to make you laugh hard if you knew Death Note and builds a weirdly friendly setting with a perverted version of Raito going around. Then the second part dawns upon us with a weird mix of romance and drama. Themes such as bullying, disappointment and redemption are thrown in there in a storm of intensity that you just can't see coming from the light-hearted mood of the early chapters. The drama is also exceptionally well achieved and suddenly it becomes extremely realistic with an amazing portrayal of suffering while doing the right thing.
To sum it up, it is an excellent school story which is amplified by the sudden turn in the mood. It manages to accomplish good comedy in the first part and great drama in the second.

[Art] - 7 - If I was asked to point out Onani's weakest point it would have to be the art. In my opinion there are several ways to evaluate the art of a manga. You can do it objectively, judging the art alone without any other factors. You can do it subjectively, considering how the art mixes with the story and any other factors besides that. Or like, I think, most people do it, you mix a bit of both approaches, and that's what I'm going to do here. Objectively it is not a very good art in my opinion. But I can't forget that this is a doujinshi, meaning it wasn't made by a professional but by an amateur. Yes, you could argue that there are doujinshis that have art that rivals that of professionals and you'd be right, but I feel like I shouldn't judge the art of a professional and the art of an amateur with the same standards. Then, I should say that after some chapters, you get used to it and it somehow fits the manga itself giving it another unique aspect and reflecting the emotions of its characters.
To sum it up, the art is not very good, but it doesn't seem very out of place considering the type of story, besides that, the artist is not a professional so that's excusable to some extent.

[Characters] - 10 - There are many types of "awesome" characters. Most people wouldn't hesitate to say that an awesome character is a character that is cool, is able to do anything well and stylishly, is stronger than anyone else, gives out cliched speeches about never giving up or manipulates everyone while standing on the borderline between good and evil. I, on the other hand, don't usually pick that type of characters as my favorites. Sure they're a lot of fun and they're essential to some types of mangas, but I'm not a big fan to be honest. I prefer the characters who are weak. The characters whose flaws and inadequacies are clear right at the start. But as the story develops those characters go through some events that serve a double purpose: they make it possible that the character realizes who he is, what he wants and what he'll change and it allows us [readers] a unique perspective about those characters, making them believable and thus closer to our flawed self. Onani Master has that type of characters. The main character starts out as a weak copy of Yagami Raito, with plenty of flaws and "evil" ideals, but evolves into so much more - and this evolution is actually believable as you can see his feelings maturing. What he goes through defines his actions and choices. His living experience determines his view of the world. This outstanding character development left me slightly speechless. You can clearly see and point out the evolution of the main character and match it with every event that is contained in this short manga.
The secondary characters are also pretty interesting. But in this case they don't evolve as much comparing to the main character. It is our thoughts of them that change as we see their actions. It is their attitude that turns an annoying comic relief guy into a gentle, extremely loyal and great friend, to point out an example. Well I say they don't evolve as much but the most important of the secondary characters are not forgotten, on the contrary you see some of them change throughout the story as well.
To sum it up, Onani Master Kurosawa has one of the best character development I've ever read, especially when it comes to its main character.

[Enjoyment] - 9.5 - It was a lot of fun. The pace was very good, which made it a thoroughly entertaining ride. You laugh in the first part and cringe in the second. It is so well done that you can actually feel the events of the story.

[Overall] - 9.4 - It is amazingly good. I really wish the guys who worked on this had become professionals because i'd be dying to read their pieces. I don't have a whole lot to add since I've gone through this manga's good points already. It is, as I said before, one of my favorites, even though I didn't give it a 10. I rarely give out 10s (only gave it to 2 mangas), and this is a very high 9. So I highly recommend it to anyone. It isn't very big, which makes it a great short read.

Hope I managed to convince anyone to give this a try and sorry it turned out so long.

“I pray that I can finish this day without dirtying my hands.”


Some elements in anime and manga have been used by so many writers that they are at risk of becoming hackneyed. The use of school settings in particular has become rather common, and finding fresh content is increasingly becoming more difficult. Fortunately, there are still a few titles that manage to surpass expectations. This manga happens to be one of those.

Affectionately referred to as “Fap Note” by some fans, Onani Master Kurosawa is the brainchild of Ise Katsura (author) and Yoko (artist). The story deals with an adolescent's coming of age and, as it's ... official and unofficial titles suggest, heavy emphasis is placed on the “coming” part.

Surprisingly, I found none of the scenes distasteful despite having much of the story centered on Kurosawa's sexual tensions. Of course, some chapters are hardly safe for reading in public spaces since they involve the fantasies of our healthy male protagonist. However, the author never resorts to cheap incidents normally associated with fanservice (accidental upskirts, peeping, unreasonably skimpy clothing, etc.), and none of the illustrations show anything explicit enough to warrant the dreaded censorship bars either. The circumstances are strange but neither impossible nor unthinkable by real world standards. To clarify: this manga is more about (A) a guy who jacks off, than (B) offering something for readers to jack off to.

Much of the appeal in the earlier chapters lies in the comedy presented. Kurosawa's method of dealing with problems in school is anything but orthodox, and readers keeping track of other popular series would undoubtedly recognize a number of parodies which are seamlessly integrated into the rest of the narrative.

However, the later volumes also stand well on their own with the intriguing and suspenseful story. As the plot starts to pick up, the events in each chapter leave you wanting for more. Onani Master Kurosawa covers themes that are regularly found in other manga about school life but presents them in a non-cliché manner, offering a surprising amount of drama and character development as well.

The art of the manga is also worth noting. The earlier volumes had several attempts at digital coloring and shading but I found these subpar even by doujinshi standards. Thankfully, these are few and far in between, and the quality does improve over the chapters.

Even more peculiar is the artist's sketchy drawing style which seems to make use of traditional media. The copious application of hatching might seem unusual for the lighthearted scenes but the dark shades enhance the mood of the more dramatic moments.

Also commendable is Yoko's ability to emulate the styles of other artists; this is crucial since the parodies would not play out well if the reader is unable to recognize which series is being referred to.

Onani Master Kurosawa is not your usual content-free comedy. At only 4 volumes, there's hardly any filler material to stretch the series to unnecessary lengths. The result is a short but exhilarating roller coaster ride of emotions and hijinks.

Below is a review for Wank Master Kurosawa; that, or a confession, depending on how you view it. I’d like to preemptively state that I am not an anime wizard, like so many on here, and thusly have yet to partake in the trial by fire that is writing my own review. Consequently, I haven’t a clue how to smoothly transition into the review, so I’ll just meander into it with the typical format.

Story: Fap Master Kurosawa starts off as a humorous tale that gradually grows into a coming of age story, with subtle character development all throughout. On the surface, it’s a ... story about an introverted student, Kurosawa, and his daily habit of masturbating in the girls’ bathroom. Of course, as all good things must come to an end, he is inevitably caught by the meek, withdrawn, and often bullied
Kitahara and, as the logic of such stories dictates, she forms a pact with him via the threat of blackmail. [As a side note, I had already achieved a sense of empathy with the main character by this point, as his routine was frighteningly similar to my own]
Now, though it may seem like a shallow beginning, the manga actually delves into numerous meaningful themes; with subtlety and a self-aware sense of humor, no less. In fact, each stage of the story is accompanied by at least one theme or another: in the beginning, it handles the sense of helplessness felt when being targeted by others and using sexual expression [wanking, basically] as an emotional conduit. Around the middle, it broaches the topics of being ostracized from the social hierarchy and growth through hardship. Near the end, it handles people’s yearning to change and the dangers of walling yourself away from the outside world, and it does all this and more in a way that is both heartwarming and impactful. I loved the story and everyone in it.
Art: Pretty good, not really important, keep reading.

Characters: Kurosawa’s story in particular really resonated with me, and not just because I too like masturbating in women’s stalls. There is a genuine depth of character with Kurosawa, and his metamorphosis from asocial, egotistical slacker to someone who is more open to the people and possibilities around him is conveyed in a natural, down to earth way. He is realistic and relatable, and not once did he say anything that struck me as implausible. In fact, the whole cast of characters [barring the teacher, he was a little too awesome] were realistic and, impressively, most get some form of character development or another. They were also astoundingly likable. At any rate, while I found myself especially drawn to the main character, I also found that Kitahara’s development near the end, which occurred as a subsequent result of Kurosawa’s influence, was likewise compelling and emotional. Between her and others I won’t mention for fear of spoilers, it becomes quite clear that the driving theme of this story is change. Sweet, gooey, heartwarming change.
All in all, by the time that I was finished reading I found myself well endeared to each and every character [except the sweaty fat one and some of the bullies, but they weren’t important], and found myself quite moved as well; for a time, I genuinely considered what my life would be like if I stopped masturbating on school grounds.

To summarize: Though it may not look it, at least in the beginning, Sap Master Kurosawa is an ultimately hopeful story about self-realization, struggle, and people’s inherent ability to change, if they do so desire. To be honest, I haven’t read much manga as of yet, but woe to those that follow this one, as it’s a high bar to reach.

Disclaimer: this review contain mild spoilers. Read with caution if you haven’t completed the manga.

Onani Master Kurosawa features the activities of a 14-year old as he indulges in a daily masturbatory routine in the girls restroom at school. As the story thoughtfully follows his inner monologues, we quickly get to see him depicted as a rather cold individual who only thinks about his classmates as potential material for his concupiscent pleasures, not even showing any sign of doubt or shame in the process. This is as far as the wacky premise goes, but for the story to advance we’re introduced to another character, this ... time an introvert girl who is object of constant bullying, and who seemingly endures it as best as she can.

The story unfolds in quite of a simple manner, since it mainly contains two major twists that transform our protagonist into a different character. First off, we have the harmless edgy wanker. It’s all in his head. Then, circumstances turn him into a cultivator who runs errands. His seed is all over the place. And finally, the mixture of a monk and best-dude-on-Earth who redeems his mistakes and becomes a great person, because there’s nothing quite like the confidence you can achieve when you know that everyone else is aware of how pathetic you are, and that you certainly can’t get any lower than you currently are (more on this later).

After being an observer of the bullying throughout the weeks, a certain event manages to annoy our protagonist, after which he decides to punish the bullies by spraying his sperm over their gym clothes. This doesn’t come as an act of sympathy, but simply as a response due to his selfish motives and being disgusted by what he saw in class.

Effectively, that solves nothing. He even admits that as far as the bullies is concerned, odds are they would think the responsible is a male who pitied the bullied girl, further isolating any option to actually help her. The twist here is that the latter suspected him all along, disclosing a completely different facet of her personality, one that will try to get revenge, yes, but without dirtying her hands – rather extorting the MC to do it himself.

Kurosawa then becomes a puppet, much to his disdain, but at the same time he enjoys it. We see him depicted as both Yagami Light and Lelouch, the dude being at the peak of his game right now. That’s until he meets a girl that makes his penis feel conflicted. Yes, that's how he first notices it. That’s… Love, we have to assume. You can see them sharing memories of their past, talking about books; it’s all really nice, albeit funnily stereotypical. That until this girl decides to have feelings of her own.

Our "poor" protagonist becomes an even more despicable character after going through this sort of NTR-experience first hand, who’d punish this girl for not looking his way, or would ignore his friend – if he ever was one to start with, I don’t get why Nagaoka would be so clingy to a dude that never showed any sort of interest in him–. After finally noticing he was wrong, he decides to go the hard way, confessing it was him in front of everyone.
Everything that happens after, really falls into some exercise of self-congratulation and pandering that I can’t simply stomach. While he does get bullied to a certain extent, there's a reason for it and is not unfounded as it usually is. He adopts an attitude of calmly taking it as part of his redemption, yet he still has the liberty to compare himself with Kitahara. If the manga ever tried to make any actual commentary on bullying, this is completely counterproductive, since Kurosawa is no victim at all.

Another change in his character that we have to endorse is that he gets more confident and sociable thanks to these events. Why does one of the original bullies who suffered from his acts start fooling around with him? Why does he get the approval of his teacher, this one going as far as to confess him he used to steal underwear in his teens? Why does Nagaoka not show any kind of self-respect at all after he treated him like garbage and pranked his girlfriend out of sheer jealousy?
So many questions without a reasonable answer.

With an awful visual appeal, an outstandingly horrid premise and characterization, and an even more disconcerting closure, Onani Master Kurosawa is in by itself a metaphor of the main activity of its protagonist.

After reading multiple comments and reviews about how much of a masterpiece this is, I just had to give it a try for myself... and I am extremely disappointed. I feel like I wasted my a good few hours of my life.

Here's my disclaimer: I'm not saying this story is bad in any way. The art is decent, the plot is better than most manga, and so are the characters. But it is not a masterpiece. It is not some kind of "Catcher in the Rye". It's a cliche story that happens to dwell a little bit deeper.


As for the theme and lesson in ... the manga, I learned nothing. It shed no light on me. I felt nothing but anger, rage, and fucking annoyance towards the main male lead and various characters. All I got out of it was the overused cliche that being a good Samaritan will bring joy, that being a loner is the worst thing ever and friends are the best thing in the world, and that everyone can be redeemed, but those themes are used so many times and repeatedly told by so many people that the depth in its meaning has worn away.

One of the problems I have with it is that the characters talk like they're writing a fucking essay to please a teacher by trying to sound intelligent. Here's some direct quotes: "In my deduction, there's no solid evidence linking you... the foundations for..." (bits are left out to avoid minor spoilers) When was the last time you heard someone begin with, "In my deduction..." or use the words "the foundations for..." outside of speeches and essays?

Furthermore, the main lead shows no sign of intelligence whatsoever (despite him supposedly being very much above average in smarts), other than the fact that he can carry out plots perfectly without a single ounce of suspicion and use his Light Yagami deductive reasoning. (which by the way, does not work in the real world) His taste for books has nothing to do with the story whatsoever, and the book discussions he had were pointless and empty. The only way one can argue for him being above average in intelligence is admitting that everyone else in the story are DUMB AS FUCK. After all the shit he pulls, which, if I may add, are harassment-- SEXUAL HARASSMENT, he's not in fucking juvenile hall and the school took little measures to look into them.

Because his actions and personality are controversial, it's easy to perceive them as depth, but they're not. A good character is a character that is realistic and three dimensional. Having a few quirks does not create three dimensions, and actually, if the quirks are misused, it can backfire. With this in mind, I can argue that Kurosawa is not a 3-D, realistic character because his former character flaws are completely overwritten with his redemption (which was fueled by the most stupid, random plot device ever) and his actions that negatively affected himself and others all become resolved.

Every part of this story was all for a single point: the main lead's character development(which was terrible and crashed his entire character). His flaws served no other purpose and the same goes for the other characters; they exist only to fuel the lead. His development was pure wish fulfillment.


Then there's the ending. That's what did this story in for me. The god shitting ending. I can't go into details though, because I don't want to spoil it.

This story is NOT controversial. It's deeper only by an inch from the usual. Again, I'm not that saying you shouldn't read it, and not saying it's bad per se, just not... brilliant and definitely not a masterpiece as all those mangahere comments claim.

This manga is much deeper than your average comedy, school-life manga. In fact, it delves deeper into the psychological change that is occurring within the main character. I don't want to give away too much since it will ruin it, but I believe that its a story about rite of passage, a story describing a change taking place in the main character.

I believe that the set up of the story is awesome. The art is really really nice, I really like the style of the artist. The character layout is decent from time to time i feel the growth of the characters are a ... bit too fast but... still good nonetheless. I enjoyed reading this manga, ( i couldn't stop and before i noticed, I've finished it.) Overall... I love it :P

Adolescence, in no uncertain terms, fucking sucks. This is especially the case if you're introverted as fuck and don't get along well with others for whatever reason. Though the memories of my own adolescence are starting to get hazy, I do remember quite well just how much trouble I had interacting with others my age. Sometimes, I really just wanted nothing more than to just stand around with the guys from my class and actually be a part of the conversations they were having. Of course, social rejection and isolation ends up giving way to a LOT of nasty emotions and thoughts. I can't even ... begin to tell you how many times I thought some shit along the lines of "they're all retards anyway, why do I need their approval?" and kept acting in such a manner that reinforced my loneliness. Keep in mind that I'm not even scratching the surface here, as there's a wide gamut of emotions and experiences that colour an introvert's way of thinking.

Given this, it's no surprise that I have a pretty big soft spot for works revolving around introverted protagonists. Some of my all-time favourite works (i.e. Oyasumi Punpun, Fruits Basket, Persepolis, Daria, Evangelion, etc) have all revolved around introverted protagonists and their experiences adjusting to an environment that challenges their very perceptions of the world around them. However, there's always a nuance to be had with this type of thing. Far too often, we have various works portraying introversion as an obstacle to be overcome rather than a general desire to focus on and receive gratification from your own interests rather than the interests of others. I can't even begin to tell you just how fucking sick I am of seeing movies, TV shows, anime, manga, and God knows whatever else treating introversion as inherently bad and then ending with the protagonist finally being accepted by their peers as one of the group.

So considering all of this, it shouldn't be any surprise that I fucking hate Onani Master Kurosawa as it embodies all the things that I've come to hate about works revolving around introverted protagonists. However, that alone really isn't enough to evoke my visceral disgust. You see, Onani Master Kurosawa brings in the subject of sexual harassment into its storytelling and without it, the manga would've just remained a run-of-the-mill coming-of-age story where an introverted protagonist finds acceptance among peers that never actually hated him. When you factor in this element to the storytelling, you'll find that the manga also tells us that we should be willing to forgive extreme sexual harassment because we're all ultimately capable of changing in the end.

Now, my visceral disgust toward this manga is heavily coloured by my own experiences when I was still in the school system so your mileage may vary. However, I can safely say that I've bore witness to all sorts of sexual harassment in high school: snapping exposed bra straps, groping, unwanted hugs, lifting up another person's shirt/skirt, the list goes on and on. It's a sad reality to say that shit like that either ends up getting overlooked because it wasn't reported or that the punishments for such things more or less amount to a revolving-door suspension system which does nothing to keep the problem from happening in the future. However... I'm pretty fucking sure that literally masturbating on the clothes of girls would warrant a full-blown investigation from the local police department along with criminal damages. If not that, it would warrant angry parents threatening lawsuits at the school board at the absolute bare minimum.

None of this actually happens in Onani Master Kurosawa. In fact, Kurosawa walks away with a happy ending where he actually gets together (or at least is implied to be getting together) with the first of his victims! Now, if you're seriously wondering why that's a bad thing... well let's keep in mind that for the whole manga's run, Kurosawa has done nothing truly deserving of our sympathy. This is a guy who literally beats his meat to vivid fantasies he has of /RAPING/ his female classmates in an unused girls bathroom. Even when you ignore that, Kurosawa is an archetypal edgelord who thinks he's too good for the people around him. What redeeming qualities could this man possibly have? Yes, he's unnerved by the bullying that Kitahara experiences. However, his idea of "justice" isn't sticking up for her and actually trying to befriend her. Instead, his idea of "justice" is literally ejaculating on the clothes of those who bullied her. I'm pretty sure we all know this by now but two wrongs definitely don't make a right. More to the point, he keeps doing so without any twinge of remorse (going so far as to nut over the property of some girl who ends up curving him, no less).

Now as far as him getting together with his first victim goes, I personally don't have much room to speak considering how I've never been a victim of sexual harassment or assault in my life. HOWEVER... I'm fairly certain that the subject of a victim getting involved in a romantic relationship with their past abuser is something we'd all find pretty fucking distasteful to say the least. Now, is it impossible for such a thing to happen in reality? Technically no, but there'd have to be some SERIOUS character development that needs to go down before the groundwork for such a thing can even happen. That's character development which the manga's incredibly short length of 31 chapters does not allow.

If you're seriously thinking about giving this manga a shot, do yourself a favour and don't. If you wanna read a manga about a pervert who gets blackmailed by a female weirdo, do yourself a favour and read Aku no Hana instead. Kurosawa may have come out well before, but that doesn't change the fact that Aku no Hana is far superior in every conceivable way. Granted, it's not a perfect manga by any stretch of the imagination but I'm sure that we'd find Kasuga getting blackmailed and abused by Nakamura due to his one moment of indiscretion more satisfying than Kurosawa simply walking away scot-free (oh boo-hoo, he gets bullied once he confesses publicly. That still ain't SHIT compared to having your criminal record stained).

I'm sure that I wouldn't hate this manga anywhere near as much if we weren't supposed to be rooting for Kurosawa. If he was an unrepentant villain protagonist and the manga was about a budding psychopath's experiences in school. But no, this is a manga that's about a teenage introvert with the telltale signs of ASPD who ends up committing SERIOUS sexual harassment and manages to walk away without so much as a criminal proceeding and he still manages to be accepted by his peers and STILL manages to get the girl in the end. All of that shit combined is more than enough to cement this manga in my mind as one of the biggest abortions I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through.

To quote Kyle Kallgren from Brows Held High: this manga was not made, it was committed. You cannot read this, you can only inflict it upon yourself.

Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback is always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :)

Let me first start by saying what everyone else who has made reviews of this has said: It is not porn in any way whatsoever. In fact, the story of Onani Master Kurosawa (“Masturbation Master Kurosawa” in English) is actually very emotional and psychological with several great plot twists that make you want to keep reading it (I read the second half from chapter 16 on of this Doujin all in one sitting in the matter of two hours completely hooked and not wanting to stop at all).

Story – 10/10
The story follows Kurosawa Kakeru, a middle school boy who secludes himself from everyone, even the ... outgoing otaku Nagastuka Keiji who keeps trying to talk to Kurosawa despite getting turned away all the time. The only thing Kurosawa enjoys is going to the library after school to read while everyone else leaves and then going to do what he really enjoys: Masturbating in the girl’s bathroom while imagining himself with different girls (trust me it sounds strange at first but it gets better). The story begins just at the end of Kurosawa’s second year of middle school when an introverted girl, Kitahara Aya, sees him coming out of the girls bathroom. He lies about his reason for being there and leaves. The story then jumps to the beginning of his final year of middle school where Kurosawa can finally return to his “Daily Duty” in the girl’s bathroom. But things are different now. The introverted girl he met before is now in his class and his being bullied by two girls every day. Kurosawa does not get involved, but one day Kitahara shows up outside of the stall he is in in the girl’s bathroom. She says she knows his secret and she wants him to help her get revenge on the girls who are bullying her by masturbating on their gym clothes. Her personality completely changes as she talks about wanting to get revenge and Kurosawa finally agrees to help her. But things don’t stop there, since Kitahara continues being bullied by different people and wanting revenge on different girls and using Kurosawa. This coming-of-age story shows how Kurosawa and everyone around him change throughout the events of the story and it is done remarkably well.

Art – 9/10
This is a Doujin so I’m keeping that in mind while rating this. I really liked the character designs, even Kurosawa who looks a middle school version of Yagami Light from Death Note especially at the beginning. Like a good psychological manga should, it shows the darker emotions of characters well. The scenery mostly just consists of the school and is not too complex but never unfitting of the situation.

Characters – 10/10
For the record, I was almost tempted to put Kurosawa on my top 10 characters list, he’s just that great of a character. The only thing holding me back from liking him more is that I wish he would have stood up for Kitahara in class at some point instead of watching her get bullied and avoiding getting involved. He may seem like nothing more than pervert at first, but, as I mentioned before, he bears a resemblance to Yagami Light that really shows at times is something I really enjoyed seeing. The rest of the characters are well created as well and even the ones you may dislike at first become likable by the end, even Nagatsuka who I thought was just a pointless comic relief best friend character ends up likable by the end (though he’s probably my least favorite character just because he’s kind of annoying and design is strange even if it has a reason). Kitahara Aya is a shy girl who puts up with being bullied for a long time, but eventually snaps after a huge incident that eventually leads her to ask Kurosawa for help getting revenge. She has a much darker personality on the inside than she usually shows and tends to act reserved almost all of the time except when she is talking to Kurosawa through the stall door in the bathroom. Takigawa Magister is a popular girl who talks to and befriends everyone, even Kurosawa, Kitahara, and Nagatsuka. She enjoys reading books and spends time with Kurosawa in the library from time to time when it rains. Sugawa Maiko is one of the two girls who bullies Kitahara and is the first person that she has Kurosawa help her get revenge on. She’s what I mean by a character who becomes likable by the end even if you want to stab her at times earlier on.

Enjoyment – 10/10
As I mentioned before I read half of this manga in one sitting ealier today and loved it. It’s now one of my favorite manga, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes psychological, slice of life, or drama manga. It’s definitely similar to Aku no Hana in some ways, which is how I found out about this in the first place. This may seems really perverted, and I won’t lie it is marked as “Seinen” for a reason, but really this manga is much more about the drama than anything else.

"The idea of redemption is always good news, even if it means sacrifice or some difficult times." - Patti Smith

It's never too late for redemption. Onani Master Kurosawa is a slightly disturbed, funny, heart-wrenching, heartwarming, beautiful story that seems like a perverted or erotic story at first. Although these appearances are often, they serve the purpose of characterizing Kurosawa as the soft spoken yet shrewd person that he is.

This manga will make you cringe, it will make you disgusted, and it will make you angry. But it will teach you a lesson that life often tries to make across, but few really accept: people ... change. Let's get to the story.

When you first meet Kurosawa, it is doubtless that he appears to be a despicable and perverted boy under the guise of a quiet student. His "habit" in the girls bathroom shows his true nature, and continues for some while until he is discovered by Aya Kitahara, an equally reserved student who is consistently picked on. Chaos ensues. Every action that Kurosawa makes, every step that he takes, brings him ever closer to shame and heartbreak. The plot twists will pull you out of your seat and leave you full of anger and despair.

Art is good overall, and the artist has improved considerably since his previous works (including Molester Man) but still keeps the habit of leaving poorly developed backgrounds compared to characters. This plays well into the manga though as backgrounds pull forward when they are needed in certain scenes.

The character development is outstanding and is the best I have seen of almost any manga I have read. Watching Kurosawa, Kitahara, Takigawa, and even the supporting characters change and react to the story really puts the plot and characters on the same plane. Kurosawa's development through the story (although initially this may seem impossible to the reader) is brave, uplifting, and heartwarming, especially as you watch him learn empathy and sympathy. As the reader, you can really relate to Kurosawa even in his strange circumstances. The author builds you up to break you down, and back up again, all the while you can fully feel his happiness and his pain. The author can make characters make 180's or reveal their true nature at unpredictable angles.

This manga is one of my favorites and was an extremely enjoyable ride, something no one who enjoys manga should ever pass over. Words cannot do the beauty of this story justice.

Let me begin this review by stating that Onanie Master Kurosawa is my single most favorite manga ever. How often do you see a story with a rather vulgar and unattractive title like, "Masturbation Master Kurosawa"? No I am not some perverted weirdo, and no this manga is not some porn magazine. In fact, if you are thinking about reading this manga for it's erotic aspect, then I suggest you not read the manga, because there's almost nothing ecchi about it (well actually...). With that said, yes, this story does revolve around a teenager, Kurosawa who is, who would have guessed, a master at masturbating. ... Now that concept sounds all ridiculous and dumb, but after reading this review, I hope that your opinion changes and you end up giving this manga a go.

Onani Master Kurosawa isn't a manga simply about a guy who likes to masturbate (a lot), that's only the outline of the story. This manga is truly about a guy whose going through puberty, growing up, and using his particular habit to literally deal out justice in this disgusting world. Yes, sounds an awful lot like Light Yagami from Death Note right? But instead of there being a Death Note that can kill people, our protagonist, Kurosawa Kakeru does what he calls his "daily duties"; he goes to the girls' bathroom in the old school building every day after school, and masturbates to fantasies of him screwing other girls in his class. Oh yes, sounds completely fascinating doesn't it? But didn't I say that he did this to serve justice? Well, after that rather sickening base for the story, the masterful plot slowly begins to unfold when Itahara, a quiet and bullied girl catches Kurosawa masturbating and blackmails Kurosawa into helping her pass righteous judgement against the bullies. And what's the first thing that Kurosawa decides to do to serve justice? He masturbates and then flails all his white-stuff on the bully's stuff - such as cloth, textbooks, etc. Sound amazing yet? Well get ready, there's more - this erotic aspect is only a tiny part of the entirety of the story. What is this story truly about? It's about the good, the bad and the ugly of human nature. Now, if you're sitting here reading this and thinking to yourself, “Oh shut the hell up, how can masturbating tell you about human nature?” Well keep your mouth shut and continue reading, I'll explain to you. As you'd expect from someone that hides in the girls' bathroom at school and masturbates, Kurosawa despises everything about high school - from the brainless students who think they're all cool, to the teachers who can be a pain in the ass, to all the buttload of homework, projects, quizzes, and tests that are assigned: Basically sums up school life eh? At your school, there's a social hierarchy no? There are the jocks who keep to themselves and think they're all gangster-like, there are those nerds who always study in the media center during lunch and babble about their AP BC CALCULUS crap, there are those people just hanging around in the middle of nowhere like a bunch of fools, there are those handsome guys and beautiful girls who think they're always the coolest-hottest, and there are those weirdos who are weirdos. Kurosawa chooses to stay out of all groups, and stick to himself, because he is disgusted with humanity (a true misanthrope). You can call this pathetic and dumb, but you can also make an argument that it's the interesting and actually the smart path to take. But you always have to know that there's more to see than meets the eye; there's a lingering truth behind the curtains of the story that wants and dreams aren't always easy to achieve. For one to make a decision, you never know if it's the right or wrong choice until you see to it until the very end. But one must be willing to sacrifice and receive righteous judgement when it's all said and done (WHAT WHAT WHAT? Where did this all this "deep concepts" come from, are you trying to act all smart?). Yeah Yeah Yeah, now go friggin read the manga because I'm not going to basically hand you the entire story in detail in a review, might as well ask me to slaughter you where you stand...

What can I say about this brilliant story other than claiming it as my favorite manga of all time. This story is just so unique, a combination of masturbation, misanthropists, school life, growing up, and deep deep conceptions of reality? Holy moly, how do you even connect all of these? I don't even know how Onanie Master Kurosawa did it, but it did do it. The comedy in this manga is hilarious as well, I couldn't stop laughing as I was reading~

The characterization of each character is a work of beauty. Kakeru Kurosawa, is in fact awfully similar to Light Yagami from Death Note; their ideals, egos, and overall thought process' are exactly identical. Kurosawa and Light both are disgusted by humans and wish to serve out justice on those that deserve to be punished. But the one difference? Kurosawa isn't a devil like Light Yagami, probably because he was corrupted with absolute murder power, instead having the greatness of his cum... but moving on from that comparison. Kurosawa, despite his hilarious misanthrope personality, and his love of masturbating to girls in his class, purely symbolizes an average teenager who is still in the process of growing up and finding his way to communicating with society. He is the single-most unique character I have ever read about. The entire story is him raging about others and trying to do the "right" thing by punishing "bad guys", but as he reflects upon his own actions, he learns that he's not much different from the people that he sought as "bad". It was a treat to watch him truly mature~ The other characters were pretty hilarious too, especially Kitahara, but honestly no one is even close to as important as Kurosawa so I'm not going to waste time delving into each character's characterization...

Artwork, easy 10/10. Beautiful, I would masturbate to the art (no I wouldn't actually). I've seen other people claim this, and I'd have to agree with them: The art is quite similar to the art from Death Note. Each character's design is unique and very appealing, you can spot the effort that was put into each drawing. You could see the pencil linings so blatantly, it was a work of beauty~ I read this black-and-white but I heard that the manga version with color is now out? Shame, I've already bought the Black-And-White set for this manga... But, without color it's still excellent.

Enjoyment? This was where this manga did it for me. Most enjoyable manga alongside Vinland Saga. What makes me like stories? A unique plot? ✓ Intriguing main character? ✓ Deep concepts? ✓ Comedy Relief while remaining true to it's serious moments? ✓ Great ending? ✓ All in all a masterpiece that you'll regret missing out on. If you've read/seen Death Note already, then this story will appeal to you all the more, because it has lots of connections to Death Note that'll not only grasp your mind and attention, but it'll also make you laugh your ass off.

First of all, if you don't like this kind of manga and are more the "shounen-type", don' read it, don't try, don't even dare. It won't be fun or intersting in the slightest for you. However, if you like works like Aku no Hana or Boku wa Mari no naka, then this is the right thing for you.

The story is about a middle school student called Kurusaw Kakeru, a boy who faps at the girl's toilette after school, thinking about the girls in his class, calling this his "daily duty". One day his classmate, Kitahara, a girl who's being bullied, notices him and asks him ... to make a deal. Well, I won't tell more of it, but be sure to get something incredible, that I can promise you if you are into tis kind of manga.

Throughout the entire manga, I was just stunned. I would have read all 31 chapters at a single blow if I had the time. The characters are so interesting, we've got the mc who doesn't cares about his surroudings, the bullied Kitahara and Takagawa and Nagaoka. Well, I love allt characters of this manga!

Yokota Takuma and Ise Katsura created something big. What a shame there isn't an anime adaption for this masterpiece.

Who doesn't enjoy jerking off in the girls' toilet? Oh... nobody? Well, Kurosawa-san does. It is his one passion in his life. After waiting for an hour in the school, he sneaks off to the toilets to do his 'daily duty'. This is the information we have when we begin reading Onani Master Kurosawa. Doesn't sound so attractive, eh?

'Onani Master' or in English: 'Master of Masturbation'. That is one misleading title for this series and it might scare off a lot of potential readers. When I read the description, I did not feel like reading this manga, it was only when a friend recommended it ... to me, that I gave it a try. And damn, I'm so happy that I did read it.

Story:
The story evolves in a very natural way and goes from a comedy to a parody to a authentic drama. More than a scheme, the story feels like a river. It flows on in a very natural and beautiful way. The plot twists do not seem forced but just come in the right time to keep things interesting. Kurosawa’s view of the world changes slightly on his way and his relationships with the people around him evolve like growing flowers. They become more beautiful and more real on the way. In the beginning Kurosawa is just a sarcastic prick, but through experiences he has in this manga, everything changes for him. There is just enough humor, just enough love and just enough deepness in this manga to be enjoyable for nearly everybody. Yes, there are some gross semen-jokes (which might only be enjoyable by males) but mostly the manga is very discrete. What I liked best about the story is how the magaka makes you love the characters so quickly: in only 31 chapters I really had warm feelings for all of the people in this manga. Funny references (as to Death Note and Catcher in the Rye) keep the tone light, while on the other hand some serious matters are discussed. Such as: what are friends? How should we decide what we should do? What is 'love'? And most of all: how to encounter guilt? It is a brilliant story, with enough laughs to be entertaining and enough story to be touching.

Art:
The art is quite sketchy and fits the story well. It is not remarkably well drawn, but it is really unique, to say the least. It might be seen as a symbol for the unclear period of life that adolescence is. Just like the drawings, not everything in the life of a teenager is as clear as it seems.

Characters:
As I have said before, the characters are perhaps the best bit of this series. I do not like the typical high-school romance setting, and OMK plays with the clichés of those series – as a matter of parody. It starts off as a satire but later on, it surpasses all the clichés it is making fun of and turns into a genuine and beautiful story. The characters that seem hyperbolic in the beginning, turn out to be real and caring people. This is the true beauty of the manga: they over-friendly and kind characters find their way straight into your heart.

Therefore I would recommend this manga to everybody: those who like action-manga’s as well as to those who like romance manga’s as well as to those who like psychological manga’s. It is a unique, touching and truly beautiful manga. As is suggested in this manga itself, it is the ‘Catcher of the Rye’ of the mangas and it deserve a place in everybody’s list.

When I saw this, I thought its gonna be like any other manga that we've seen but don't judge it by its cover as its way off from being like that and its a gem.

Story:10/10
This is about a boy name Kakeru who masturbates in the girls bathrooms. The plot gets good when he meets a girl who makes a contract just to keep his secret. The plot has great pacing as its not fast or slow. Its slick and stays that way. This has very mature theme to it but it does not ruin the manga oh no. In fact it helps it ... a bit. This has a lot of reason to it and its almost real like and its believable and not out in the open. This story did well and gets the readers attention.

Art:9/10
The art is odd but it works. It mostly looks like it came from the drawing board like its not finish for printing. But it make it different from other art that I've seen and it helps set the mood on a scene. But sometimes I couldn't tell what is in the background at times. But other then that I like the art.

Characters:10/10
The main character I can relate to. I use to be a person who doesn't want connection except I wasn't a jerk. He is very complex as when a choice comes,he makes a decision. The others are also interesting as I think they play a role on what Kakeru will do. So overall character are great.

Enjoyment:10/10
I really did enjoy this as its original and different from other school life mangas. If you are looking for something different then check this out.

Overall:10/10 Everybody needs to read this

Personally, the title Onani Master Kurosawa, isn't quite a title that draws me in. My impression on this title was that this manga is probably just going to be about a perverted guys doing stuff. Somewhat that's right, but at the same time, Onani Master Kurosawa can not be taken lightly. This manga is extremely well made, even though the title wasn't attractive to my eyes. That was just my personal opinion by the way. Reading the synopsis of the manga, what comes to mind is just a story about student's life and what they experiences throughout their school. It is true, but there is ... many twist to it.

Story: 10
These times around, I don't just give out a 10 for something simple. The plot of Onani Master Kurosawa is just unexpectedly interesting. Unlike many others where you expect one thing to come after another, this manga certainly left you with an aw expression after most of the events occurring throughout the story. The pacing is also very good. It doesn't go too fast, causing confusion, or too slow, leaving you bored. Instead of that, this manga have a perfect pace, giving you time to think and get all information as you read. This manga does not let you be confuse, since all the things you need to know is right there for you to acquire, very explanatory. Don't let the title sway you into thinking that it's going to be just about a guy doing perverted stuff all the time. It's much more than that, which means it's about a perverted guy doing stuff to/for others in a kind of way that may benefit him, or may benefit others. There's only 31 chapters in Onani Master Kurosawa, but it seems much longer, with so many plot twist, give you new excitement every chapter you encounter. People read for stories, but in the case for manga, some others look at the quality of the picture and how well they're drawn.

Art: 7
There's nothing really special about the art, as far as my opinion goes. If you are the type to read for looking at the beauty of the drawing, this manga won't be suitable for you. It's not that the art style is bad, but it's not quite catchy, and very pretty to look at. It's just there to give you enough image you need to see the situation at the time. The most that I could give was a 7, since there's really nothing about average about how characters and backgrounds are drawn. The quality wasn't that great, but that doesn't mean that the emotions of each characters wasn't bought out from the manga. Truth is that, the art style fits well, or even greatly with Onani Master Kurosawa, considering the type of plot it has. With the deep emotion put into each character, this "dark" art style seems suitable for the actions of each characters.

Character: 10
With just only 31 chapters, the character development was quite amazing. Characters changed to a completely different person, good or bad, without making it seem like it's to good to be real. The character development of Onani Master Kurosawa is probably the most interesting and exciting concept of the manga. Unlike many other manga, where you questions the actions of each individuals, this manga act accordingly to how each one of us would probably act in the situations the characters is in. Of course some acted differently than how we think, but that's how it has to be in order to bring up the new ideas in to play. Other than that, it's quite realistic, and may seem like slice of life. The way each person grow is very interesting, and you may just learn from it as well.

Enjoyment: 10
With such perverted title, I can not believe how much I enjoyed it. It's different in a good way. I barely seen anything like this, and it's quite a new experience to learn from. Reading isn't really my thing, but Onani Master Kurosawa really managed to pull me in, and I seriously got so pulled in, that all my surrounding seems like it wasn't there, and it almost seems like I'm in the book itself. This is a really enjoyable Manga, and there's nothing to complained about. After finishing, there's just a feeling of wanting more of it.

Overall: 10
Probably one of the shortest manga I've seen, but it is truly one of the best manga that I've read. Everything is beautifully done, and I have to say that, what makes me want to read this the most was how the character develop over time. I would personally recommend this to anyone who won't judge a book by it's cover, name, or just by reading a couple of pages, for the real events actually start later on in the manga. With that said, I believe everyone should try reading this manga, adults and children. (Not so much children, but I believe they may learn from this)

This is an interesting manga, or doujin. When you see the title you'll think it's a hentai or "mature" manga. But it's not. It's just the main character enjoys masturbating in the girl's school bathroom. It's actually very psychological, which I found quite intriguing.

I found I really enjoyed the art style, though a little un-perfected I guess to put it, it does a really good job of showing the grungy side of the lives of the characters, and also does a good job on the character expression.

The characters in the manga are very well done, to go along with the psychological part of the ... book. You may think one thing, but they are quite the other which will keep you guessing about things going on in the story, which for me is a good thing to keep you interested.

Though I have only read 10 chapters so far, this storyline in this manga is keeping me interested, it's like something I haven't ever read, and it just shows me another side to most manga I read on a normal base.

I'm really enjoying this manga so I highly suggest it, or at least giving it a try, and try to think around the fact that it has the word "masturbation" in the title. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

History: Let's be sensible, history did not have a good start. The beginning is certainly boring, along with that very strange premise. A wanking protagonist is quite unpleasant. That is, leaving aside the final romance and the fact that the protagonist became a character 100% kindness, right?

Art: Although attractive, art is very scribbled, strange and unpleasant to those who see it for the first time. There are many moments that could be a little more impactful if the art were more consistent.

Characters: Of course, not all characters were developed (Hi, Takigawa), however they never showed anything like this as a premise. From the beginning, the ... focus was on Kurosawa and only him. And, by the way, I did not expect that development at Kitahara ... of course, it was not perfectly developed like Kurosawa, it was even a little flustered, but it was an admirable development.

Enjoyment: It ended up not being what I wanted, or expected from the end, however it wasn't exactly bad. I felt a great pleasure with the end of the work, I even started to love Sugawa thanks to the last chapters... although the protagonist has transformed himself into a good-natured shounen protagonist, the ending was extremely delightful.
That is, apart from the message and metaphor that was used by the author. Using a bathroom as a metaphor to develop the protagonist at the end of the manga was... brilliant!

The work is not a masterpiece, as it has its notorious defects, but it remains excellent and delightful for those who want a good drama with admirable psychological development, this is the work. Final grade: 9.5 / 10

One of the best mangas I've read, and one that I genuinely feel everyone should read. The title and the synopsis might mislead you into never starting this, the first few chapters might make you want to drop it, but if you stick with it, you'll be experiencing a truly wonderful story.

The manga is relatively short, but it jam-packed with plot developments and emotions. The second half of this manga is an absolute feelz trip, you'll feel happy, sad, excited, and even numb at times. One of the strong points of Onani is that it evokes strong emotions in the reader.

There are four central characters, ... each with their own important contribution to the story. It is Kurosawa, however, who develops the most throughout the story. We see him face himself and others, we see him atone and redeem himself for what he does wrong, and grow as a person throughout the story.

Beneath the bizarre events and strong emotions, Onani Master Kurosawa has a beautiful message that it expresses through a simple theme : misunderstandings. The whole story revolves around how people are quick to misunderstand people, situations, and emotions. It explores how misunderstandings arise - how people are quick to judge others, how people project their assumptions onto others, how people sometimes just don't put in the effort to understand others, and how people's biases and emotions sometimes render them unable to think rationally. The story and the themes are very well-wrapped up in a very satisfying ending.

Like I said before, I really feel everyone should read this masterpiece, and not be turned off by the premise. This will certainly be, if not one of the best, one of the better mangas and stories you've experienced.

The definition of not to look at just the cover of book is what Onani Master Kurosawa is , from the moment I saw the title back then , quickly attracts me and wow , I have no regrets completing it .

Story 10/10
The story is absolutely GOOD , how it developed and as it progressed further . From funny moments , it is real funny , and when its sad, it is truly...awfully sad , A Trainwreck I must say . It is not forced and not "cringy"

Art 9/10
The artstyle of the manga is great , how it blends in , I have no ... complaints and hard times reading manga like Onani Master Kurosawa , sure it looks sketchy but that's one of the part that attracted me .

Character 10/10
Each character's has its own unique traits and what makes them memorable in its own ways , each unravels as the story progresses , the character development in this manga is REALLY GOOD as it is felt natural .

Enjoyment 10/10
I've read it several times now , does that means something to you ?

Overall 10/10

Never . really . judge a book by its cover and the title , sure it sounds weird at first but once you've read it and completed it , ( not stopping at first / halfway ) it is rewarding , it might not suited for non-mature readers , but I promise me , you wont regret finishing this manga until the end . Hope you'll like it .

I never thought I'd write my first review about anything similar to this, but after reading it, I felt that the summary didn't quite give you enough of an idea about the story. I don't plan on spoiling any of it, so I'll try to keep it broad.

The story may seem like something you wouldn't read at first, especially based upon the summary. And contrary to first glance, it lacks everything but dark drama and almost drowning realism. You may think "Eww masurbation..." or "Yay masturbation!.." depending on your interests and such, and I will admit that this is not a manga for younger audiences ... especially due to the explicit language. What I will say is that don't put it off only because of the title. This isn't something I'd normally read, but after seeing the high ratings, I decided "Why not? I have time." Until about half way through, I realized what a good choice it was.

Story: 10
The story was very dark until close to the end, focusing first within the characters then moving into the actions. The extremely pessimistic and excessively prideful and judgmental attitude of the main character was the first thing to sadden my heart. It was an even heavier weight seeing the realism of bullying throughout until the end. Like I said, I won't spoil anything, so please read to find out why it's "until the end."

Art: 9
The art was not particularly eye catching, but I feel it deserves a higher rating as an integral part of understanding the whole work. As I mentioned before, it is a work of intense realism, and I think the almost crude art is very representative of the characters' attitudes and the surrounding, heavy atmosphere, as it also gets clearer later on. I would like to believe it to be the author's intention to relate the two and convey to the reader how dark and heavy the story is.

Characters: 10
The characters were in every sense possible, very real. I could go to back to my high school and middle school years and find a character copy of each of the main and supporting characters. Though they may not have looked it in the manga, you could imagine meeting these kinds of people, wearing their facades or acting out as portrayed.

Enjoyment: 9
Once I accepted that this manga was not intended for comedic purposes or plain old storytelling, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was thought provoking, bringing to light not only the faults of man and how they can be fixed, but also the resistance of man to fix those faults. I also really enjoyed the romantic element, a very realistic experience many can relate to.

Overall: 10
Overall, I would like to say I nearly cried. It hit home in several places, and where it didn't, it provided an outstanding ambiance and story that let me sympathize. If you are not easily offended, like darker stories, or are mature enough to look past the title and first impressions, I would definitely recommend this to you!