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Feb 10, 2021
As someone not familiar with the Tenchi Muyou! series, it felt a little weird to see a manga adaptation of an anime, combined with multiple movies, OVA's and spin-offs. It's a little dated, so it may have been more popular than the members of MAL may suggest.
The Tenshi Muyou! series is a little weird. Being a manga adaptation, it didn't introduce the characters and jumped right into a story that could take place at the halfway point of a longer running anime show. And the funny thing is: it didn't even matter. At first, I felt like the scans for the volumes must have
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been mixed up (as is sometimes the case for lesser known manga spanning 40+ chapters), but it seemed to be their intention as there are several references to the OVA series inside the manga. Talk about self-advertising. ;) Apparently, the authors expected us to read and watch the series at the same time it came out.
The story itself is mostly episodic and happens in and around their mansion on earth, but the story arcs that last for several chapters are given more detail in terms of writing and character development. There were some amazing villains in it with great motivation and not specifically being evil for the sake of being evil. Yes, it may be a trope that some villains get a small redemption arc, but for the few of them here, it was well placed and quite well executed. And while some of them may die, that is a sacrifice the author is willing to make.
The characters are typical 90's fantasy setting characters, as it contains a princess from a far-away planet and her little sister, a space police captain, a super genius who is the mother of a space pirate, a ship whose anthropomorphic shape is a young cat-rabbit (yes it’s cute, see MAL’s cover pictures), and a typical martial arts grandfather who teaches Tenchi to control his powers. Apart from Tenchi, his grandfather and Sasami, some of the others are 700+ years old, judging from the events in the manga and their knowledge of past events. For such a strange and relatively large cast of characters thrown at you at once, they grow on you surprisingly quickly due to their silly antics, quarrels and typical 90's jokes. The latter is a very subjective matter, but I personally liked it, as it was a breath of fresh air compared to the dull humour some manga have nowadays. My favorites are the subtle fourth wall breaking jokes, such as saying that some darker colored characters resemble one of the main cast, only for her to answer that her skin tone is 10% while the others are 20%. And they are not shoved in your face like “I made this joke, laugh at it”, but it is hidden away in a smaller font outside of text bubbles.
A questionable subject would be the art style. As a 90’s manga, it is dynamic and has typical over the top hair in many colors and some buff males and slender female characters that may be the envy of some sjw or feminists nowadays. And although the clothes are usually simple in overall design, the details are what set them apart from a simple two-colored dress for e.g. Ryouko. The characters are very cheerful and their exaggerated big angry eyes may be a little dated, but that is again a personal preference as I like that drawing style.
The backgrounds are often detailed and apart from some shock/realization effects, there are few white space panels. And whenever they are found, the panels are often small or filled with text. It has just the right amount of detail to be noticed, but not taking the attention away from the characters.
The biggest flaw is actually the sound effects. I have found an official english release and their words in action scenes are extremely big and all over the panels. Sometimes it was hard to read and it even obstructed the dynamics of the fights. Especially in spaceship battles, most of the time, it wasn’t even visible what happened and my best guess was that they used some energy beams. Those battles were just poorly executed by a combination of the dark background of space and too many or too big sound effects.
Overall, it was never boring to read Tenchi Muyou! As the authors said themselves in one of the extra sections, some of the decisions were made with the thought of: “Lol why not? It’s funny, just don’t think about it too much.” It definitely made a compelling manga with mostly episodic chapters, contrasted by some longer story arcs with great villains. The art is simple and effective, but the sound effects and space battles are badly drawn to the point where one is wondering what is happening. As someone who didn’t see a single episode of the OVA’s or movies, the story starts as if you are thrown in the middle of a larger arc, but the characters quickly grow on you. They all have one effective quirk that makes them memorable and fun to be around. The manga is great and didn’t have a decisive ending, but there is a sequel that may be more conclusive. Don’t count on it, because the whole series is crazy like a fox and that is exactly why I loved it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 14, 2021
The review may be a bit long, but please bear with me. I will explain why I think it deserves more recognition than it has now. The overall section will give a tl;dr–like summary.
“Inari is true to her own feelings. If asked between studying and visiting Uka sama’s shrine, she would not hesitate to rush to Uka’s side. Though she often speaks with tears, I have never doubted her affection. Yet what if the choice was between godhood and humanity? To choose one would mean abandoning the other. She would come to despise herself, whatever her choice. I cannot force her to make such a
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decision. And yet…”
This quote is from a game called Fire Emblem Blazing Sword, where I altered the sections pertaining the characters because I felt it fits Inari’s situation incredibly well. It also immediately gives a deeper sense of duty and guilt, which both play a significant role in the story.
As I prefer to look at anime and manga objectively, I will try to limit my personal opinions to the enjoyment section, but my love for shrines, foxes and accompanying folklore may be more obvious than intended. To make this review more complete, because there are some things I need to mention, I will go into spoiler territory. But only at the very last section, marked with spoiler tags, so enter at your own risk.
---- Story ----
Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha is a story where the characters truly make the difference. Inari rescues a fox and arrives late at school. To add insult to injury, she is paired with the boy she loves (Tanbabashi Kouji), but embarrasses him at PE by being clumsy and pulling his pants down. Ashamed, she tries to apologize to him later, but discovers that Tanbabashi likes another girl from their class, Sumizome Akemi.
Inari is summoned by Uka no mitama no kami (abbreviated to Uka here) and in exchange for rescuing Uka’s fox, she is allowed one wish. Inari wishes to be Sumizome because she is envious of her. After realizing being someone else isn’t going to help her with her live and love, she asks to be changed back. Uka sama breaks a goddess rule by giving Inari a part of her own divine power, which is the main introduction to the story.
Having divine power comes with its own problems and Inari will find out the hard way. This manga is rated seinen and probably for the reason that some of the backlashes feel quite heavy. This story doesn’t pull any punches and puts Inari into difficult situations, some of which could be prevented by not using her divine power. Not as heavy as Ashita no Joe for example, but you start to feel genuinely bad for Inari and many others because of how affected they are by their mistakes.
There are many ups and downs, tears and laugther, love and broken hearts in this story. And all equally important for the story. I will not break them down into detail, but I will mention some important parts in the spoiler section.
My only complaint is that, even though a lot happens in each chapter, it all feels quite slow. I understand the build up at the start, because it is hard to feel bad for someone you only know for five minutes, but all relationship and love related problems are resolved incredibly slowly for a 50 chapter manga, even for the supporting characters.
----- Art -----
The art is amazing and complements the story and setting superbly. The research Yoshida has done and photographs she has made of shrines are implemented smoothly in her own light hearted and heartwarming art style. Light strokes on the pages and just enough detail in background trees, shrine ornaments and school environment to make them obvious without taking the focus away from the important aspects in each panel, usually the characters. It all feels calming, while a slightly darker tone is used in some heavier and more dangerous situations such that the suspense can be felt on the pages.
In a manga where the characters are the most important, it is hard to consistently have them express what they feel at any point in time. But Yoshida has excelled in that aspect without falling back too much on simple chibi faces. The facial details are expressive enough to tell what a person is feeling. Enough so that sometimes the text felt unnecessary, rather than complementary. It is not just Inari or Uka, but every character that has received the same amount of detail, up to some stray cats bickering with the shrine foxes. Never a wrong expression and most characters are recognizable. My personal exception being Tanbabashi and Touka. Both of them have the same bland black hair and a similar face, which sometimes made it difficult to tell them apart. Touka is taller and has slightly narrower eyes, but up until about halfway through the manga, I had to consider the circumstances to know who’s who.
Morohe Yoshida seems to be experimenting with her drawing style pertaining jokes. It may be an evolution or adaptation of the concurrent popular manga style, but it feels like she is trying out some new gags and silly faces. At least they are not overly part of the story and often a single panel, so it can easily be ignored. Comedy isn’t the main focus of this manga, but it helps alleviate some heavier feelings by cracking a quick smile. Usually because Ootoshi no Kami (Uka’s brother) keeps making weird faces whenever someone praises Uka and he thinks they want to keep his sister for themselves, as the siscon he is.
----- Character -----
Let me just skip how the characters look, because I have already explained that in the Art section. Every character is here for a reason. Not a single side character shows up only once. The most lovable characters are of course Inari and Uka, but even the mascot foxes and the silly characters like Ootoshi play a significant role that only they can play. Be it comedic relief or whispering consoling words into your ear. The different love rivalries, study difficulties and extra-curricular activities all give room for character improvement, and boy do they use it. Even the beach episode was used for character development and telling each other secrets. Yeah, I don’t even know why there was a beach episode, but it wasn’t to show off sexy characters like Uka sama. You would have to read more ecchi manga for that.
There is only so much I can tell without going into spoiler territory, so take this at face value and just believe me if I say that every character has their own difficulties and tries to overcome them in their own way. Whether or not they succeed, you have to find out yourself. ;)
----- Enjoyment -----
Now for the more subjective part. I received this manga at the MAL Santa gift exchange, but I could have found it myself if I had searched for foxes, inari or shrines and divine powers. I like shrine maidens and oh boy did I like it. I liked Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha so much that I deliberately read other manga, just to savor this one longer. But all things must come to an end, so here we are, writing a review the day after I finished it. Apart from maybe the first couple of chapters, I was hooked and couldn’t let go. The story is written such that it doesn’t need cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to continue reading and the art is smooth, fluent and a lust for one’s eyes. Just like the characters. Most specifically Uka sama, who acts like a mother figure and is a beacon of hope for many while acting spoiled in a secluded environment. It shows that gods can behave like humans too, which made her even more lovely. Inari is envious of Sumizome, but the more you get to know her, the more you like her. Honestly, if you dislike a character here, you probably are in the wrong mood to read this.
----- Overall -----
There are many things the author did well, like the story, art and characters. Even subtle humour that is not shoved into your face like some other comedy shows that rely on gags and weird faces (looking at you Dr. Stone). My small dislikes were the slow development and… uh… that’s it. Oh yeah, two male characters somewhat looking alike.
The art is fluid, lively, and vibrant and didn’t focus on unnecessary aspects. There was never too much going on in the same page or panel and the characters drive the story, accompanied by expressive faces. After a bit of a slow start, you gradually fall in love with the characters and experience nearly the same emotions they feel. You feel bad when all goes wrong and relieved when two people love each other and get together, even if they are supporting characters.
The story is captivating after a slow start, the characters gradually improve despite their bickering and the art supplements it gorgeously. The comedy is subtle and alleviates some tense moments without taking away all the suspense. Honestly, this is such an underrated manga. It deserves more recognition!
----- Spoiler section -----
There be spoilers below, if you want to stop reading, I advise you to scroll back up NOW.
Spoilers start here!
The synopsis gives a small part of the story by stating the introduction. But just giving Inari a divine power isn’t quite what the story promises. There is so much more behind it. By having a divine power, Inari finds out that using it doesn’t always result in good endings, both short term and long term. The biggest role in the story is that Inari doesn’t just receive a divine power from Uka, they share their divine power. Meaning that if one of them uses it, the other feels their power being drained, resulting in them spacing out or fainting in the worst case scenario. This has big consequences and Inari must eventually choose whether to steal the divine power from Uka or have it taken away and never be able to see Uka or other gods again. Let me just tell that this is not at the end, but rather around halfway through the story, so there are other big developments that I won’t spoil even here. Those are the things one must find out themselves, because the emotions felt at those moments are different for everyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 29, 2020
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS.
Elhanburg no Tenshi is a prime example of a manga with potential that wasted it along the way. We've got a medieval setting with a king, Madeth, and his loyal knight Lalvan. There is a mysterious angel that is said to be able to bless the king with fortune and loyal people. Sounds promising right? So where did it go wrong?
Storywise, we enter at a point where the two main characters seem to know each other for a long time and the retainer sees an angel floating above the king. From the synopsis, it is clear that only some people can
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see the angel of the castle. If the king is able to see him, he is usually blessed with fortune and a rich empire. However, only his retainer Lalvan can see the angel. So whenever he is alone with him, he asks why he chose the king, rather than him, even though he is smarter, better at swordplay, yet still feels inferior and jealous of the king. But because the angel doesn't speak, it feels more like complaining. This complaining and bickering with the king over his possible spouse leave him distraught. And eventually, he leaves the castle to live in some rundown village, days away from his liege. There is a little more to it, but this is the basic outline. The king also has some disagreements with his now wife, not wanting to admit that he wants what Lalvan has.
Then there are about three timeskips, completely unannounced and one might miss them when reading too quickly. Ths king has a son who looks just like him, he can see the angel too and he wants Lalvan to come back to the castle, but he refuses. Years later, when the son has become the king, there is a civil war. This seems like a good moment for Lalvan to attack the castle to see the king, but he actually walks right in. Madeth and Lalvan have a disagreement and yet he becomes the new ruler. Since then, he could not see the angel anymore.
When I was reading this manga, I was seriously wondering what the angel has to do with any of this. It is supposed to be the main plot device, but he hardly had screentime and didn't speak a word. It wasn't even exactly his fault that Lalvan and Madeth broke up, because they were jealous of each other before. He was probably the final straw that breaks the camel's back. Even so, his relevance to the story is so minor, he might as well have been replaced by an object and the result would be the same.
The artwork seems pretty promising from the cover and the chapter pages, but the rest pales in comparison to the attention to detail there. The angel looks drawn with sketch lines, giving a vibe of loose feathers and it's hard to tell if it's a male or female. Lalvan doesn't look older despite the timeskips, the son of the king and the king himself look so much alike that it was hard to tell who was on the horse after the first timeskip. And the biggest flaw in my opinion is the flower arrangement on the pages. This is customary for shoujo and some josei manga, but it feels so out of place in a serious setting here. The entire tension during a quarrel is ruined by placing some glitters and flowers over the page. Seriously? What was the author trying to achieve with this? It would be easier to draw backgrounds or extra panels.
The worldbuilding is also pretty much non-existent. We only hear some of the people's thoughts when Lalvan lives with them, but there is no clear depiction of the general world, no drawing of the castle the king lives in. Not even a note of a village anywhere. For a one-shot, this could be acceptable, but in multiple chapters, it feels like a lack of attention from the author. Or perhaps she wanted to focus on the characters. In that case, a second volume would have been better to improve on both of these points.
Conclusion: a promising cover that couldn't live up to its own expectations. This manga might have been better off as a one-shot, so the author wouldn't have had to drag out some discussions between characters. The angel is almost irrelevant to the story, so why make him the theme of the manga? And the serious tone of the discussions is lost from the floral theme over the pages. It feels so out of place that it raises questions why the author bothered to draw them. Such wasted potential.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Apr 29, 2020
Let me start with something unconventional: This manga is started out as a hentai and got serialized later on as a regular manga. The only other manga I know of that started as a hentai is Ane Naru Mono. However, the hentai was wholesome, and this manga is even more wholesome.
With that out of the way, Kitsune no Oyome-chan is quite a regular slice of life manga. Episodic by nature, we follow the daily life of Oyome and her husband, who she refers to as "master". There is no general plotline, just their visits to a zoo, the beach, Oyome's parents, a school and
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festival and the like. Nothing irregular here. The archaic speech and manners of Oyome and the sweet interaction between her and her husband make this a relaxing manga more than most others.
It is clear that this is a kind of escapism like all the isekai manga that emerge nowadays, albeit in a completely different direction. There is no sense of danger, except that kitsune are afraid of dogs. Rather, this is more a "what if we didn't have cat girls, but kitsune living among us" and in my honest opinion, I cannot wait for the day that may truly happen in this world. However, for now we just have to make do with manga like these. Luckily, Oyome chan is portrayed really well. She is a lovely wife and has even found a job as a storyteller or history lecturer because of her age. It makes her feel better than burdening her husband's finances as a stay at home wife.
Speaking of which, the husband is pretty sweet and caring for Oyome, but a little bland. This might be from the fact that this manga originated as a hentai. Also, a bland character ensures more focus on those the story is based on, if done correctly. And he succeeds quite well in that aspect. He has more than simple lines to say and he has saved Oyome in more ways than one. It is evident that both of them love each other and they show their affection on several occasions.
As of now, there are only 7 chapters translated, but as soon as the scanlations pick up, this might become almost as popular as the similar manga Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko san. It has potential and it only needs to garner a little bit of attention and enough chapters to earn an anime adaptation.
So if you like sweet manga, want to know how it is to live with a kitsune or just have a lovable wife, I highly recommend reading this.
And for those curious ones, here are the magic numbers: 123827. There are only three pages containing nudity.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 15, 2017
Mark my words, this manga is going to be big in due time. Unfortunately, as a monthly manga, that may take a while. For now enjoy this mostly spoiler-free review and decide for yourself whether this is worthy of your time. The spoilers you find in my review are from chapter 1 and 2 to give examples of the setting.
Story: 7
As the synopsis said, the story unfolds with a shy young girl - a priestess - who wants to become an adventurer, deciding she should help those in need. Applying in a lobby of sorts between all kinds of typical rpg characters (witches, shamans, berserkers,
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paladins etc), you are invited into a joyful setting in a fantasy world where many people can become an adventurer if they wish to do so. She gets invited by a party to hunt goblins and follows the group who thinks killing goblins is no big deal because they are the weakest character in most games. Overconfident and zealous, they enter the dungeon marked as the goblin nest and at that point, you are pulled out of the jolly RPG setting of cheerful characters and welcoming parties and thrown straight into a berserk-esque hell. Goblins may still be relatively weak, but they attack weak groups or lone villages and farms to set the buildings on fire and take their women for their own lust and mostly getting away with it. (This includes rape to a certain extent! This can put off some readers, but don't let it cloud your judgement) If it wasn't for one man: Goblin Slayer. He is hell-bend to kill the goblins due to some childhood trauma and only takes on goblin quests. Being a high ranked adventurer, some others scorn him for only taking on those weak monsters. Nevertheless, he accepts all goblin quests and continues to do his job, ignoring the others who despise him. Think of this as edgy, arrogant, selfish or anything you want, he doesn't do it for the glory or fame. His attitude is not the "Fuck all goblins, they should cease to exist" kind, but more the "I don't want others to experience the same thing I did" kind. If it wasn't for that, this manga would have a severely lower rating for me.
As this has an RPG setting, there should be other monsters, demons and dragons to defeat. However, those battles are fought elsewhere, as the main focus here is how much of a treat goblins can be to new adventurers, while the experienced and higher ranking ones scorn the goblin quests.
That is why the first couple of chapters show the merciless world out there and the tactics to use. Simply being powerful doesn't mean anything against a horde of goblins, accompanied by shamans, hobgoblins or higher ranked enemies. One needs tactics and that is one of the reasons why I like it. The MC, Goblin Slayer, is rational and thinks of the best solutions regardless what others may think. The most spoiler-free example I can give is that in the first couple chapters, he shows that even the gobin children must not be left alone, for they will harbour hate toward the humans that killed their family and will strike back when grown up.
Art: 10
A monthly manga usually has the advantage of having more time for artwork and that is definitely the case here. We can enjoy detailed goblin faces being smashed and spot-on character outfits fitting with the characters, flowing with emotion and amazing scenery. The surroundings are never left out, most empty spaces are filled with a simple item, such as a hay-car on a farm and tables with chattering people in buildings. There are a wide range of manga out here, but only a handful (literally) have received full marks for art from me, Goblin Slayer included. Dynamic fights, detailed, ugly goblins, interesting outfits and beautiful female characters (this doesn't mean all points go to boobs of course). This ideal world depicted is only set off by the contrast of the dark reality that is facing the goblins and their malevolence. Truly stunning to see, nothing to add.
Character: 5
Goblin Slayer is a man among men, let that be clear. His objective is killing goblins and that's what he does. If that means harming some others, so be it. He is clear, calm, just and for me, relatable. This is how one should act in a world such as this.
The priestess - Onno Shinkan - is a typical shy priestess. like Asia Argento from Highschool DxD and her decision to go with Goblin Slayer feels forced purely to continue the story. After that, she has more character development than Goblin Slayer or any other character here. She tries hard for the sake of others, but is not always able to due to her beginner rank. She displays a wide range of emotins, even including sadness for the goblins, even though they are the ones who put her in her misery.
The supporting characters however, all contain a certain archetype (elven archer, dwarf shaman, etc) and retain that type. During a journey, you come to know some of them, but my phone has had more development in the last year than they have had. They never break the archetype, yet some of them show more concern than they used to do. The most interesting supporting character is the receptionist who likes Goblin Slayer for helping people with goblins where most others would not even look at the quest as they are not rewarding or challenging enough.
Enjoyment: 9
Despite some flaws I mentioned, the enjoyment rating of Goblin Slayer is high for me. The chapters are usually over 30 pages yet felt like I was reading the short chapters of Dolly Kill Kill or the later Naruto ones. Every month waiting for a new chapter is slowly killing me as I want to continue reading, but there are only so few chapters out. Sometimes I even read it again for the sake of enjoyment of seeing those goblins being smashed most outrageously and brutally with melee weapons and amazingly drawn magic spells.
Overall: 8
Goblin Slayer is rated as seinen and with reason. Gory deaths and captured/victimized females play a part of it, but that didn't cloud my judgement as it added to the seriousness of the settings. There is occasional humour with simply drawn faces later on, but the cold blooded seriousness and zeal of the MC is mostly what kept me reading, combined with amazing artwork which eases the reading and is a feast for one's eyes. I never get bored of a fantasy setting like this with tactical fights, bloody kills and a festive return.
As said at the start of my review: this is going to be big over time and I can only eagerly await each new chapter until that time has come.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 15, 2017
There is a tl;dr at the end for those wanting a short review.
Warning: this show contains a lot of nudity, so if you are not into that or easily offended, this is your chance to turn away. That said, let's start the review:
There are not many serious harem/ecchi shows and that's mainly because the combination doesn't work well. Shows like Freezing, Change 123 and Ikkitousen have a similar setting and they often implement paper mache-like clothes purely for fanservice or rely on certain characters to keep the fans at bay. Tsugumomo does not do that. It has serious moments, followed by occasional humour because
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not the fans desire it, but the author himself. (Yeah, let this one sink in). He stated that whenever a new character is introduced, he wants to draw them without clothes as soon as possible. Let me quote him from ch 71.5: "The main part has no fanservice scenes! This is a grave matter. So I worked hard on the omake. Because it's hard on the author when there are no fanservice scenes, working on the chapters included in this volume ought to have been quite difficult. But now that it's done, I don't remember very well."
Why is it that I enjoyed reading Tsugumomo? The main character gets involved in a lot of harem and ecchi scenes and is quite a whimp, same as any other ecchi manga. However, he is determined to fight for a just cause and wants to keep improving himself to protect others. This too sounds familiar? The difference is that the fighting scenes are quite dynamic and the techniques interesting. But before I start explaining that into detail, let me explain the setting.
Kazuya Kagami always keeps his obi (a silk cloth) from his mother with him. It is only after falling off a school roof that the obi reveals herself as a person and saves Kazuya from falling by weaving the obi in a cushion. They start to fight against a so called Amasogi, an object matured quickly because of the owners' desire. They are unstable and need to be suppressed by the owner, or he (the owner) receives a backlash, equivalent to the item. This is done by exorcists, like Kazuya and their Tsukumogami. A Tsukumogami is an object matured over time with the owners desire and therefore stable. The first Amasogi was a wig and therefore, that owner goes bald after the battle. Similar cases for other items. The fights are pretty cool. The MC starts off weak, but improves greatly over time. His Tsukumogami, the obi Kiriha, can be woven into different shapes. The variety is great to see. The most common finisher attack is some spiral drill attack, immensely similar to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's drills, but he also uses the cloth to bind around his legs to enhance their strength, or as a shield to block incoming attacks.
There are other exorcists who enter the story at a later point. All of them have interesting Tsukumogami, whose powers are based on items ranging from a daruma doll to a sickle with a chain and any item in between. Throw in fitting characters who -apart from the main characters- don't fit the usual tsundere, loli, big boobed etc type, yet are intriguing on their own. The side characters have one clear trait, yet don't feel all that one-dimensional, given the fact that most of them are minor characters.
Every character is portrayed naked at some point and as the manga progresses, the nudity occurs more frequently and the content increases to the point of showing everything of the female body. I've seen the first few episodes of the anime and they don't show nipples, but miraculously cover them. I'm seriously wondering how they want to keep doing that, because -let me tell you- it's impossible later on.
As mentioned before, the fighting scenes are dynamic. The artwork is amazing. Not Somali to mori no kami sama level, but exceptional nonetheless. I honestly don't remember the artwork at the start, but the later half implements amazing scenery, detailed effects, interesting and clearly shown items as well as the anatomy of the female body. If not for the fighting scenes, it would be mostly the artwork combined with the nudity that commend me to keep reading this.
TL;DR:
Story- 7. It doesn't keep you on edge and is relatively simple, but that is not the main focus of the story.
Art- 9. Amazing, the background, fighting scenes, objects and the anatomy are terrific.
Character- 7. The MC develops over the story, he becomes more confident and even side characters are quite interesting.
Enjoyment- 9. The interesting fights with a myriad of (often) japanese objects are fantastic to behold, but I would be lying if I said I didn't do it for the nudity as well.
Overall- 8/10. Starts off as a pretty mediocre show, but develops into something serious and interesting. There were some really dark scenes at a certain point. Something I didn't expect at first, judging from the genres. I would recommend this mostly to the male gender as it contains some shounen elements and nudity, but if female readers don't mind that, I would recommend this to everyone who enjoys some no nonsense action and occasional humour.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 25, 2017
This is my first review here on MAL, so feedback would be appreciated.^^
If I had to describe this manga in one word, it would be: Soothing.
A simple slice of life anime or manga is something to watch or read while not concentrating. It's perfectly calming. And the artwork perfectly adds to that feeling.
The story is simple in its design and it slowly develops like an rpg. At every point, you stumble across another hint for the final destination of your quest. The same thing happens in this manga. A young girl named Somali is shackled and left alone in a forest for unknown
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reasons until the guardian of the forest - a golem - finds her. After having protected the forest for many centuries, he sets out with the girl to find her parents. Looking for hints, they meet many interesting animals, witches and other fantasy characters, most of which act more mature than humans, who are nearly eradicated after a long fight with the fantasy characters. An initial meeting went peacefully, until some humans mistrusted the demihumans and started attacking them. What started with stones on a small personal scale slowly erupted in a large war. Because of this, they are still at bad terms with humans. Therefore keeping quiet about the fact that Somali is a human, they travel through amazing places with luscious fruits, soothing lights, antique houses and wonderful details in a perfectly illustrated cheerful world. Truly, I've read my fair share of manga, a couple of which had amazing artwork, but nothing comes close to Somalo to Mori no Kamisama. If anything, it makes me want to live in the world illustrated here. Every single detail is nicely drawn and only adds to the wornderful atmosphere. I found myself in a trance looking at some of the pages. Especially the witches library. If we had a library even remotely looking like that, I could read books all day there.
Even though I say this now, there have been a few serious moments that caught me off guard. Feeling like such a child friendly manga, the setting still asks for more serious themes. One of which is the war between humans and fantasy characters. This implies murder and it indeed happens at some point. But, as said, I did not expect that, which added weight to it. A life is not someting to take lightly, wether it be a human or a rabbit like creature.
The artwork is not the only good point about the manga. The story is simple, but effective. Although it sounds repetitive from this review, it doesn't feel that way. Every step to take is logically explained and only feels more magical combined with the extraordinary artwork. At every new location, they obtain information in the form of a backstory or explanations of how things work there. It's definitely not an outstanding story, but it has no need for that. The focus is on the journey of their adventure: exploring new areas and meeting interesting and often cute characters rather than a deep intriguing story. Perhaps it will get more complicated near the ending, but for now, I do not see that happen. Especially not now that the manga is cancelled due to bad health of the author.
As mentioned before, most of the characters act quite mature. Seeing a small girl and her guardian, a golem, they often engage joyful chatter and explain the interesting elements of each area as both of the main characters are often unfamiliar with the rest of the world. The golem lived in solitude in the forest and his awkward speech with other species and the cute little Somali who often hides behind him make this manga truly enjoyable. Some manga have a food freak who eat a lot. In this case, Somali is awed by the deliciousness of the food, sometimes to the point of crying and understanding this should not be taken for granted, hence the maturity of the characters. At this point (after 20 chapters), there is a small cast of characters already, each with his own treats, notably and beautifully illustrated with the amazing artwork, which only adds to the liveliness of the characters. Almost all of them are side characters as the focus is on Somali and the golem, but they leave a certain impression. And most have their reasons for their actions and don't resort to violence if not necessary. They too want to live a normal life.
Ratings:
Story: 6. Simple, but gets the job done.
Art: 10. See for yourself. Seriously, just open a random chapter and random page. They are all equally detailed.
Characters: 8. Sometimes archetypical, but I like them a lot.
Enjoyment: 10. There has not been a moment I did not like this manga. If anything, it is too short.
Overall: 9. The artwork and enjoyment weigh the most for this rating. A simple story can be overlooked if the manga is a blast to read.
Everything that happened in this manga simply calmed my soul. The stunning artwork (I cannot run out of positive adjectives to describe this) truly gives you the feeling you are living within the illustrated fantasy world. The likeable cast and a simple story that is wonderfully executed is soothing to see. If my enjoyment wasn't clear yet, go read this right now and see for yourself how I was automatically immersed in the story and the chapters flew past in the blink of an eye.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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