I'll try to keep this short for those who are new to amano's works:
If you don't fall in love with any of the characters, ships characters together or really like the art, don't read it.
Why?
Because her work rarely have much more than that. Will elDLIVE be a rare case though? We'll see.
It's not that the story/plot is bad. It wasn't, really. They were quite creative and it has some interesting twists too, the problem is that it was very cringey, like, majorly cringey. I'm talking about Inazuma Eleven's "we must save soccer because it is love and it is life" level of cringe. Maybe not
...
as bad (like 4 or 5 times less) but you get what I mean. There are thousands of shonen manga with this level of cringe, so if you read a lot of them, you'll probably have no problem. Heck, you'll probably think I'm overreacting.
The story feels really childish at times, and the solution to some of their conflict just appear instantly and conveniently (an example is when Dolugh feels very sick after an update to the point of calling the update a failure, he was revived in an instant by Chips' healing ability). The power of friendship is there too, OBVIOUSLY. What shonen manga will be complete without it?
But you know what the confusing thing is? elDLIVE has so much more than that. It dwells on the concept of trauma, which is a pretty deep theme if you ask me, and it doesn't feel forced. This is the manga that made healing looks forced, this is the manga that has a kuudere as the heroine, this is the manga that has 2 F*CKING MASCOTS. And this manga dwell on the concept perfectly. The MC's character development is amazing. If you've read KHR and is deeply disappointed with tsuna's (lack of) character development, then read this. the MC, Kokonose Chuuta, has a great character, and his development is subtle but clear.
So more about the characters, since it seems to be Amano's specialty.
1st of all, the heroine, Sonokata Misuzu.
Typical kuudere, has some tsun-tsun moments, tbh I feel so done with her because it feels like she's gonna exist just for the fanservice until Amano throws in her past. Or, more specifically, her lack of past. The secret centering around her has yet to be revealed, and it's getting on my nerves (in a good way) since Amano seems to hint (very subtly, mind you) that almost everyone in the series has something to do with it. Except her. It's very interesting, to say the least. Also, together with the main character, they complete the trope "Blue Girl and Pink Boy". look it up.
next one, the "hot as fuck dude every shonen manga seems to have just in case girls are reading" guy, Laine Brick
He's hot, we got that part down. and he wears an eyepatch, which is the very basic code in anime or manga and it translates to "hey something is up with me and if I took it off shit happens". and he's white haired too, and we all know the ancient japanese proverb:
"if his hair is white or gray
bet your ass he’s hella gay"
I bet my ass he is. for the main character or the blue haired guy probably. Dammit Amano. You and subtexts
Jokes aside, he's a character who is somehow the opposite of Misuzu. Casual, crazy and cute on the outside, full of responsibility and all business on the inside. I hope the manga focuses more on him, as he is a well-rounded character that I'd like to see more of. Also, he has something to do with Misuzu's secret, just like every other character in the series.
and after that comes Dr. Love, the blue haired guy I was talking about. And yes, that is his name.
Love is a badass character. A badass and hot character. A badass, hot AND full of shit character. By shit I mean secrets, and I think his entire body might just be made of it. Goddamit Love. Again, a character related to Misuzu;s secret.
Next! The fanservice duo, Veronica and Ninotchka.
Nice name and designs, that I have to admit. But Amano's fanservice-ing skills put these girl's designs to waste. No one can get turned on by a fanservice panel so small you have to squint to see that their undies are white, or an armour that acts like fucking censors. Why do you need an armour if it only protects part of your boobs and your pussy? Even Kill la Kill would be embarrassed.
I don't hate fanservice, I sometimes enjoy it actually, but the ones in elDLIVE are terrible.
They have some development in the recent chapters so Veronica and Nino is not all that bad. I guess. Possibly gay for each other? Possibly.
Now comes Madigan and Glock.
Madigan is amazing. He's a great character with a great twist and a great mystery surrounding him. I swear everyone in this series has secrets. He's badass as fuck, but I can't say much because I don't want to spoil people.
Glock is cool, he's a brand new character so I can't say much, but I love him. Glock has a thing for small animals and knew much about them despite his cold and rude attitude. He feels like elDLIVE's version of KHR's Hibari, albeit a slightly kinder and less battle minded version of him. Heck, they even share their gayness towards the main character. And no, I'm not complaining at all.
Now last but not least! The "femboy character that is a trend now thanks to haikyuu, precious cinnamon roll too pure too cute for this world, everyone is gay for him at one point" main character, Kokonose Chuuta
I just want to say that, I love, love, love him. I have a soft spot for feminine boys and cinnamon rolls, but I love Chuuta not only because of that. There are mysteries surrounding him, and not Misuzu's kind of secrets, it's secrets that has been subtly hinted throughout the series, from the very start. You can see the hints scattered around if you squint hard enough. I actually made a post on tumblr listing every single time it's hinted that something is gravely wrong with him. He himself doesn't seem to know it, or maybe he does, who knows. I've no idea what this "wrongness" could be, as the hints are all very vague. but if the plot becomes too cringey, I'll still keep on reading just to know.
There are still some other characters, but those are the ones that matters the most currently. There's also the villains, but I don't get them that much so you'll have to read to find out. One of them can shift gender, which is petty cool. And they're into Chuuta. Thanks again Amano.
So that concludes characters, let's move on to the art.
It's easy to explain Amano's art, really. You'll probably saw her art and goes like this:
"sign me the FUCK up 👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌th 👌 ere👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my selｆ 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠＯOOＯOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit"
elDLIVE is in full colour, literally, everything, is in colour and Amano's art is good enough with screen tones, imagine it with colours.
So there you have it! elDLIVE is a surprisingly deep manga with shonen ai and/or shoujo ai hints, with bad jokes and bad fanservice but good enough characters with a shitload of secrets.
Nov 10, 2016
I'll try to keep this short for those who are new to amano's works:
If you don't fall in love with any of the characters, ships characters together or really like the art, don't read it. Why? Because her work rarely have much more than that. Will elDLIVE be a rare case though? We'll see. It's not that the story/plot is bad. It wasn't, really. They were quite creative and it has some interesting twists too, the problem is that it was very cringey, like, majorly cringey. I'm talking about Inazuma Eleven's "we must save soccer because it is love and it is life" level of cringe. Maybe not ... |
