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Nov 26, 2023
It's a sweet and uncomplicated story with a few emotional peaks along the way, but nothing that makes it dark in the twisted sense. There are some points in which you're led to think that it might veer into clichés in regards to the money, but it ends up being played surprisingly "unproblematic". It's not easy to do themes of grief and acceptance in yaoi, but Soutome does a good job of it here.
Despite the rougher beginning, the story gets better as Sougo and Hiromu get to know and trust each other; the way they provide each other with emotional support was -chef's kiss-, and
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we love men who aren't afraid to cry and talk about their feelings. I also liked that the side characters also get development and interact meaningfully with the leads, instead of being relegated to the background.
It's not the most realistic plot ever, but I found this manga enjoyable solely from the interactions between the characters, and the art (Soutome's art has always been great, especially in sex scenes).
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 13, 2023
Overall: bland stories that meander without anything actually interesting happening, characters getting together because plot, lots of clichés of the genre, abrupt endings, art that is occasionally janky and all the ukes are basically the same character model.
Story 1, "Tounan Kadobeya Kare no Koi" (Love from the Southeastern Room) - 4/10 - nothing new, another case of closed-off uke (Tasaki) meeting a younger, friendlier seme (Haruki) and discovering that he's gay. Their romance...just happens, and it's based off of Haruki being literally the only person Tasaki has dated, that can relax around him.
Story 2, "20-punkan no Himitsu" (20-Minute Secret) - 3/10 - another perverted tutor
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story. Didn't like how the tutor molested his student while he was asleep and then lied about it, bleh.
Story 3, "Mannequin wa Warawanai" (The Mannequin Does Not Smile) - 3/10 - because they had a short talk once, normal high school student (Yabuki) pines after another student (Takanashi) who wants to become an idol. Clunky dialog, zero emotion. I get the impression that the mangaka tried to do something "deep" with this one, but it falls flat because the characters have zero depth and there's frankly no reason for Yabuki to fall so intensely for Takanashi.
Story 4, "Yopparai Mislead" (The Drunk Mislead) - 4/10 - Towa confesses his feelings to Maki while drunk, and Maki takes it as a joke. Surprise (to no one)—Mika actually likes him too! This story's main problem was how short it was, and Maki and Towa could be replaced with cardboard cutouts with no issue.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Oct 24, 2023
This is a great story. It doesn't feel huge in scope—rather, it's limited to four characters and no grand reveals or large-scale ramifications, but the more intimate setting fits better. You get to see the relationship between Akihiko and Kazushige develop beyond "person who feels indebted to another for saving their life", and the writing is good enough to avoid certain subplots overstaying their welcome, or characters slipping into predictable patterns. There is also quite a bit of time spent delving into Akihiko and Kazushige's individual pasts, and I liked how they move beyond them in a manner which feels natural.
Everyone feels written in a
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balanced way: Kazushige doesn't push Akihiko away more than would be narratively interesting, Akihiko gets better about his past as he feels more appreciated, and Masakado and Moronatsu mostly hang around in the periphery of it, intervening according to their own motives and goals. In fact, I greatly appreciated that the mangaka didn't turn Masakado and Moronatsu into typical villains, and kept them grey. If anything, it was more refreshing than your typical "must have intense, angsty, screaming conflict all the time" yaoi. There are moments of emotional outburst, but the concerns brought up seem logical to me for a story like this.
The art is gorgeous, especially the eyes and hair. Several times I paused just to admire some ordinary panels.
My only gripe would be that an incident near the end feels a bit contrived, as it rushes a specific resolution to a subplot that had been developing throughout the entire story. Whether the outcome is the secretly desired one, or an unforgivable transgression, is up to you. It wasn't a problem for me, since it led to the ending I wanted, haha. (Also, within the story, it's pretty clear which of the two it actually is.)
Overall, I would recommend this to people looking for a sweet vampire love story with great art, that isn't overwhelmed by angst.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 22, 2023
This manga is creepy, even if the colorful cover and pretty art would lead you to think otherwise.
The gist of it is that convenience store employee Chino calls out a stalker following a woman, said stalker (Kouhei) apologizes and says it's all a misunderstanding, Chino believes him...and ends up being the new target of Kouhei's stalking. But...that's not THAT bad, right? What IS bad, is the fact that street-smart former delinquent Chino is kept as dumb as possible so that the plot can continue, despite all the stalking being called out repeatedly and reasonably by his friends.
Take your pick of the batshit things Kouhei does,
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that would make me run for the hills: breaking into Chino's apartment and pouring coffee on his bed (while Chino is laying on it) in a fit of jealousy, pinning Chino down on the bed and trying to force a kiss on him, "coincidentally" popping up randomly closer and closer to Chino's house, having the most obvious deranged stalker stare in the universe. And when Chino's friends tell him, "Hey, bro, dude, hermano, we didn't give him your name or address, this asshole's stalking you for real!", our boy goes, "He's an EX-stalker, he's fine, he's harmless, he can't have done that". Because Kouhei feeds him sweets.
Example of affront against common sense: "Wow, I wonder why this guy, who was accused of stalking just days before (which I personally witnessed), is kissing my foot now, and yesterday pushed me down and tried to kiss me. And why does his room somehow look absolutely identical to mine? And why does he know my name and address despite no one telling him about it? Who knows? Not me! It's fine, he's just a bit strange!"
Now imagine me doing the biggest side-eye in the world, like in that meme with the monkey puppet.
There's more insanity that I didn't include, either to spare you the headache or to let you discover it for yourself. Thinking back, it's almost impressive how much this manga tries to evade common sense. But here's another example, as a treat:
"I wish you also liked me [the way I think you liked that girl]" - my brother in Christ, he licked your foot.
You know what...in the end, both of them are weird as hell and deserve each other. Best writing ever.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Oct 1, 2023
The older I get, the more I appreciate mangaka who put more thought into storytelling than the bare minimum, who go beyond the level of effort expected of their genre. Their stories are not always complex — the best ones I've come across, in fact, have few characters, and a plot that is fairly easy to follow and could be described in two sentences — but it's immediately obvious when they were crafted with care.
'Toumei na Ai no Utsuwa' is one such story, and I wrote most of this before I even finished reading it.
Writing characters that are detached from humanity is tricky; how far
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can you go before they're completely alien? But if you don't go far enough, they're just quirky humans. Shiro is a self-described "monster" who feeds on humans yet doesn't see them as food. In contrast, the human Miki is somewhat disillusioned with those around him...but he doesn't hate them, either. It's interesting to see them simply...existing and experiencing life together, and of note are the smooth switches between their perspectives. Most of all, I appreciate how this story is allowed to breathe: it doesn't feel like you're rushed from one plot point to another, but, at the same time, the story is moved forward each chapter.
That's not to say that the plot is original or complicated. It isn't—but does it need to be, if the whole package is so good?
Needless to say, the art is gorgeous, and I found myself going back to many panels for a few seconds to simply take in all the detail and delicateness of the lines and shading.
Have I made this sound better than it actually is? Probably. But, to me, it's perfect just like this. Maybe for you it will be as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 12, 2023
I would've loved 'Someday's Dreamers' if it had actual depth to it.
The basic premise is that magic can be used to make people happy. In line with this, our overpowered protagonist, Yume, dreams (heh) of making everyone in the world happy using her magic. The manga then proceeds to provide situations in which Yume uses magic of all kinds, with seemingly no restraint or constraint, to make people happy...at least on the surface.
The main issue with the way Yume is written, is that she sees no major personal consequences for her mistakes. Her impulsiveness and the resulting mistakes are, thus, treated as fine because "she
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meant well"...even when someone literally ends up being stabbed for it. Yume doesn't really grow as a character, Oyamada (her instructor) gets over his trauma pretty quickly once Yume intervenes, and the other characters might as well be cardboard cutouts.
You shouldn't go into this manga expecting a detailed explanation of how magic works, who can use it, what limitations there are etc. At most, there's a brief mention of it being illegal to create money out of thin air, but Yume does it twice and is (predictably) never punished for it. It also takes her a surprising amount of time to figure out that magic can't be used to cure everything, despite it being stated outright in the first pages of the first chapter and, presumably, being among the first things taught to an apprentice mage.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was that the subplot of the old lady, which started in volume 1, influenced the rest of the story. Even so, I found myself rolling my eyes at the writer's inability (or lack of interest) to devote the rest of the story to Yume processing her obvious PTSD, instead of having her fix someone else's problem in order to fix herself.
In the end, it's a story that exists. Neither particularly impactful nor groundbreaking, but will suffice if you have nothing better to read on hand - but I bet there are other manga out there who did things better. If you don't feel like sitting through the entire thing, read the first and last chapters only and you'll get an acceptable story. At least the art is decent.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 11, 2021
'Half and Half' is a manga that doesn't know what it wants to be most of the time and derails itself spectacularly in the last 2 chapters. Most of it is a surface-level exploration of a cis woman (Hina) being attracted to the past male self of a transwoman (Itsuki), with Hina not knowing what to do about her feelings and how to approach the new Itsuki. The manga baits you into thinking it'll be a love story between the two, but it isn't; that it'll be about Itsuki's struggles as a transwoman in the conservative late 2000s Japanese society, but that's only a few
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lines here and there; that it'll be an in-depth look into gender identity and attraction, when it's... well, just read below.
Considering its topic, the manga contains a lot of transphobic sentiments towards Itsuki—which I take no issue with when it's coming from other characters, as it is expected; what I do take issue with is the way her character is handled. For a story centered on a transwoman, her perspective is constantly overridden by other people's who only refer to her as a "gay guy". If the mangaka was trying to point out that trans people deserve respect, having the rest of her characters refer to Itsuki as the wrong gender without any correction kind of nullifies her entire point, no matter the intent.
The ending is rancid, and the mangaka shot herself in the foot with it. So, let me get this straight: you write a story; 90% of it, a transwoman is explicitly attracted to men, and is happy to present as feminine. Then, you end that story with her deciding to date her cishet female friend and stop presenting as a woman. Somehow, against everything you established, this is a happy outcome. What am I missing here. Even if Itsuki can reconsider how she identifies and whom she dates...there's not enough of her perspective to indicate how such a radical change takes place. She barely has a voice when it counts, and ends up being more of a circus attraction than a character.
It's like the take-away from this manga is "OK sweetie, you've had your fun but summer's over and it's time to go back to normal". Then there's Hina accusing Itsuki of "playing with her feelings", when Itsuki tells her repeatedly that she can't give her what she wants and isn't attracted to women. There's this gross implication of Itsuki "tricking" Hina, when in reality Hina's too selfish to take "no" for an answer, refusing to accept that the person she was so hung up on 13 YEARS AGO (goddamn!) is no more.
The manga does have moments where characters broaden their perspectives and learn to accept modifications to their strict worldviews — sometimes it happens suspiciously fast and easily, even. The art is also great and appealing, and as piss-poor as the ending was, there were a few good moments such as the chapter featuring Marui, and Hina staying her tomboyish self despite being repeatedly told that she's "ugly" for not being typically girly-girl feminine. Too bad she couldn't extend the same consideration for Itsuki and let HER be her true self as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 5, 2021
This anthology offers us 7 stories by 7 different mangaka in the universe of "I am a Hero" (IAAH), plus a making-of documentary that peeks into the life of mangaka Kengo Hanazawa before and during the serialization of IAAH. What this means is that you should expect varying levels of quality and shifts in mood between chapters, which might come across as unpleasant if you jump into this right after finishing IAAH.
1. Even If I Become a ZQN (Mizusawa Etsuko) - a short chapter that takes place around the climax of IAAH, following a couple who fret over their sex life as Hideo is doing
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his own thing. The art style is on the moe side and the mood is light and fluffy; if zombies weren't brought up, you'd think this wasn't about them at all.
2. Ghost of a Smile (Yokoyari Mengo) - a look into the relationship between Hiromi of IAAH and her supposed best friend Sae. Doesn't offer much that we haven't already seen; taken as a standalone work, it has nothing to do with zombies. Neat art. This and chapter 1 (very briefly) are the only chapters that directly relate to IAAH.
3. The Place Where the Zombies are (Ishiguro Masakazu) - a mostly satirical chapter on how the society of the living is addressing their zombie problem — some more..."affectionately" than others. The shift between the two stories is abrupt and I wouldn't have figured out that the girl is the common element if someone hadn't pointed it out. Art is OK.
4. Adolescence of the Dead (Ojiro Makoto) - probably the closest in tone and writing to IAAH, this oneshot follows two acquaintances stuck together taking shelter in a van during the outbreak. The art is among the best in this volume and I liked the dynamic of the two characters.
5. She is a Slow Walker (Ito Junji) - a classic Junji Ito story that, true to his style, combines horror with silliness and absurdity. The outcome is somewhat expected if you've read his works before, but it's still a fun chapter rife with references to other zombie media (especially old Italian zombie flicks) that Ito is such a big fan of. The art is his usual fare, including characters that look like pretty much every Ito man and woman does.
6. Mister Ogre, Over Here (Torikai Akane) - quite possibly the most intriguing story of the bunch. Can be interpreted as: a zombie story within the universe of IAAH; a metaphor for jealousy and regret leading to losing one's self; or (if taken as a standalone story) a story about a woman resorting to the services of a witch to gain what she wants. Excellent art.
7. I Am Not a Hero (Nogizaka Taro) - considering how it starts, I wasn't expecting much from this story, but it turns out surprisingly good in the end. Nogizaka's art syle is very distinct and I instantly recognized it from "Yuureitou". The last page features a neat callback to the title/main theme of IAAH.
8. I Am a Hero Untold Creation Story (Yoshimoto Kouji) - a look into how IAAH came to be, from Kengo Hanazawa's years in school to his career as a mangaka. Doesn't shy away from stating more "unsavory" details about IAAH's mangaka, such as him telling dirty jokes a lot, liking porn, and being awkward around women (an addition which is appreciated, considering that most notes about authors only feature nice or neutral stuff). The art style is reminiscent of early Disney in terms of proportions and facial expressions. Worth a read if you're interested in the backstory of IAAH and want to find out more about its mangaka. Incidentally, this is also the longest chapter in the manga.
All in all, if I were to categorize the chapters, it'd be so:
Excellent: 5 (She is a Slow Walker), 6 (Mister Ogre, Over Here)
Good: 4 (Adolescence of the Dead), 7 (I Am Not a Hero), 8 (I Am a Hero Untold Creation Story)
Decent: 1 (Even If I Become a ZQN)
Meh: 2 (Ghost of a Smile), 3 (The Place Where the Zombies are)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 28, 2021
If you go into "Otayori" expecting a suspenseful, action-filled story similar to its prequel, you'll be sorely disappointed. "Otayori" is more akin to an epilogue than a sequel meant to have its own plot and story, a "where are they now?" that is meant to tie up the loose ends of the main story. While not entirely necessary to have, it's still a nice peek into the girls' lives, several years after "Gakkougurashi!". Each chapter is dedicated to one person or group, and the tone shifts according to the topic: some simply pass the time, others are still haunted by the past and seeking release
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from it, others look hopefully towards the future.
The art is as neat and pretty as its prequel, with several spreads and color pages occasionally as a treat.
All in all, this is definitely recommended if you liked the prequel. It's just one volume and goes by very fast. It's melancholic, it's funny, but most of all: it's hopeful, just like our girls.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 2, 2021
The art is the best part, but the writing as a whole is kind of a hot mess. You're led to think that some characters will be relevant, then they aren't; that the blackmail will have relevance in Eichi and Akino's relationship, then it doesn't; that the contest subplot will be suspenseful, then it isn't; that the Kubo siblings' drama will be relevant, then it's not. It's like playing hot potato: every time the mangaka touches upon something interesting, she flings it across the room.
The 6th chapter was especially hard to understand among the new characters that are suddenly thrown in there, changing hairstyles, and
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confusing speech bubbles. At the end, everyone is mostly as they were introduced save for Eichi no longer being scared of Akino, because I guess they had one quick chat and the blackmail's forgotten. Any interesting drama is just breezed through, yet at the same time this story felt so long and boring to get through and I didn't care about anyone.
I'm giving this a 5 overall because it's just that forgettable in terms of characters and plot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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