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Aug 17, 2013
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.” - Plato.
This is a very simple manga and due to such simplicity it is very often down-played and underrated. Is simplicity really such a bad thing? Can a simple manga be a good manga? The question "What makes a good manga?" is one that has no definite standard answer. The world of - let's call it "creative work" thus encompassing a wider scope than just manga - is an open one. Ultimately it is as unlimited as one's imagination can be, therefore any answer to this question will be met with opposition
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by other people. Common answers point to a complex story in an engaging setting preferentially with several layers of depth beneath the basic plot, others mention well developed, fleshed out characters with a well developed emotional and psychological profile as the true essential point. Sometimes I find myself in the minority by openly stating that mere simplicity when well executed can provide a good manga, as the quote by Plato indicates, even if it was taken out of context.
"Simple" is without a doubt a keyword to describe this manga. The story is somewhat based on real life events. It is the manga adaptation of a very popular story that has spawned novels and movies as well. The real life story revolves around a lonely Otaku who started getting help from anonymous people on an internet anonymous board in order to get closer to a woman he had saved on the train one day. This manga adaptation is based on those threads and replies. But let me explain the actual manga's story a little bit more simplistically so you know what you're getting into here. A loser Otaku saves an attractive woman from a drunkard on the train, afterwards they exchange contact information and from there on, with the help of the many suggestions from several anonymous users he starts developing his relationship with her. Yes, I know. It is a very simple story. Fairly generic, fairly predictable. So what would make it worthy of anyone's time? Let me try to explain that.
This is one of the most heart-warmingly simple love stories you can come across in manga. One of those that will make you smile as you see the events playing out. It is not complex or particularly deep at all. There isn't much drama to be felt. But the romantic relationship between our main characters is one that you'll really want to see come true. Here's where the main draw of this sweet manga comes into play: the author doesn't strive for anything different, doesn't go for depth, forced drama, unnecessary awkward character development. He takes upon himself as simple a premise as they come and executes it very well without straying from the true "personality" of his creation. By adding a very good rhythm - that is usually missing in most romantic manga to be honest - likable characters and extremely pleasant comedy, the author compliments the oh-so-typical boy-meets-girl story with solid execution, resulting in a deliciously sweet, funny short manga that warms you up and brightens your day. The execution makes the manga worthy of a shot regardless of how typical the story is.
The main character is easily relatable in a way. A simple guy who obsesses over his hobbies, still lives with his parents, works in a normal company and, as is easy to guess, has no luck with women, still a virgin obviously. The author took a great approach to the display of the manga by taking advantage of the "Based on true events" selling line of the story. Most of the events go by accompanied by the actual posts of the original Densha Otoko (translated as Train Man, the actual original real life poster/ main character chose this nickname to post in the threads) which a lot of the times are quite funny. This gives the manga a unique style of storytelling and allows it a pace that will draw you in easily. Even better - not only do we get the funny narration of the original Densha Otoko, we get the often hilarious comments of many of the anonymous users that helped him in his quest. Those comments provide some of the best moments in the manga as the author portrays the anonymous characters with simple images that somehow speak so much and go along so well with the original posts. As more and more of them join in and the rhythm speeds up you'll find yourself cheering along with them as if you were on that website reading the threads along with everyone. The impatience they feel and express when the Train Man takes too long to come back home and report his progress, the frustration they put up with at all the "I just can't do it guys!!" replies of Train Man and the joy at his achievements - you'll feel them too. Allow me to be cheesy here, there's a certain magic about this connection that you develop with such a simple manga and such shallow but strangely familiar characters. It's not magic though, it's just the skills of the author. That's how well portrayed this story is, the visual display is very well thought-out even if the art is somewhat sub-par. That being said I believe that this emotional ride is - at least partially - only possible due to the simplicity of the story.
Now I have to say, as you can probably already tell, this manga won't appeal to everyone. It is very important to know what you're getting into. If you despise every "nerdy guy saves hot woman and end up in love" story this is obviously not for you. If you only read story driven manga this is not for you. If you can't get emotionally involved in a story without drama and complex emotional and/or psychological developments this is not for you. But... If you're looking for a simple, funny, very heart-warming romantic manga that isn't too long nor drags on fruitlessly, doesn't lose itself in love triangles or forced drama this is right up your alley. Extra points if you like anonymous internet boards or forums and are used to posting it will probably be a boost to the whole experience. Try this out, it'll cheer you up for sure.
Thank you for reading, I hope that if you give this manga a shot it won't come to disappoint you. If you found this review lacking or disagree with any of the points I mentioned, feel free to let me know by commenting on my profile or messaging me, it's a good chance for me to learn how to write better reviews.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 3, 2012
"A person can't exist alone. What makes a person is the relationships they have with others... Those people reflect your true nature. It means that a person alone can't prove they exist.
That's why people hurt themselves, and hurt others just to prove that they exist. Screaming "Someone please notice me! I'm right here!" They're all running away, trying not to be swallowed up by the dark nothingness."
Shi ni Itaru Yamai, which roughly translates as Sickness Unto Death, is a 2 volume long psychological manga that started in 2009. The story is about a young man who has just started college, studying clinical psychology. He stays
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in a mansion under the condition that he must tend to an ill person when necessary. This person is a girl with hair turned white suffering from a very serious psychological disease. This disease is slowly killing her, not only psychologically but physically as well. According to her, she's suffering from a terminal illness of the heart called despair. Our main character ends up involving himself with this girl while trying to save her from her own mind and maybe even her true self.
First thing that must be said - this is not realistic, as you probably got from the part where the disease caused her hair to turn completely white. It is a manga that blends real but exaggerated psychological problems with philosophic matters (to be precise existentialism).
It has pretty good dialogue. It raises some interesting questions and the main plot point is very interesting. But I can understand that it'd be easy to see it as pretentious. It tries to juggle complicated questions and issues, but never actually manages to explore them completely or efficiently. On the other hand, it strives to make the reader think and question himself about the true meaning of existence. Not physical existence, but existence as a whole. To do this the author used a couple of psychological diseases (such as Dissociative Identity Disorder and Depression).
The search for something that confirms our existence as a singular unique entity in this planet. The goal of existing in someone else forever as a memory. I can't say any more or I'll be giving away the twist of the story.
Should you read this manga? Well it depends. I definitely think it isn't something everyone will enjoy. I think you shouldn't go in with too many expectations as it isn't an overwhelming piece. But if you want a simple and short psychological manga that poses some philosophic questions, I think this won't be a waste of time. Try and think about the points it raises and the threads they leave hanging. Reflect a bit about the true meaning of existence.
Thank you for reading and I hope I've helped. I didn't feel like such a simple manga with just 2 volumes required a bigger review so I'll leave it at that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 5, 2012
"My heart... bowed completely to the wishes of the little devil standing before me, in this story of the Earth's destruction."
Before I start the actual review, let me just get something out of the way. From this it may seem like I give out 10s to manga, like I give candy to children on Halloween. In fact it is the opposite, this is the only true 10 rating I ever gave to a manga. I have another one in my list but that's for special reasons. So, as you probably realized already, this is my all-time favorite. Still, I will try and go through what
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people may point out as its negative points as unbiased as possible, while knowing that doing so completely is impossible. Oh and sorry if this turns out extremely long, anyone who reads until the end deserves a virtual high-five. I hope you like this review and, more importantly, I hope you give this manga a chance.
Onward to the actual review, starting with an introduction. Many times people ask me what I like about manga. They ask me why I don't just read a book, watch a movie or see a play at the theater. It's always hard to answer this question. I always answer quite vaguely. Manga has a unique style of storytelling and a unique style of story itself. It goes beyond books in its own ways of expression. It develops better than movies with its panel, dialogue and image display. I try to say something along these lines, but, I don't know if its due to a certain bias, a certain stereotype connected to manga/anime and its fans, or simply due to my social inabilities, people always look at me as if I was an ignorant, illiterate kid. Hoshi no Samidare would be the answer to that question. I am positive that it does what no movie or book will ever do in a way they can never do. It is a manga that doesn't try to be anything else but the very example of what manga can manage beyond movies and books. Some manga are praised because they are so realistic and their contents could very well be the contents of the aforementioned 2 entertainment mediums, like Monster for example, where people always say something along those lines: "It's like a book", "it could very well be a thriller movie", etc. Not to degrade Monster in any way (since I like it quite a lot), but I can only see that as an insult on manga as an entertainment business. It's like saying that the best manga stories can almost be worthy of books and movies, basically implying that it is inferior to those 2. HnS wouldn't work very well as a book, much less as a movie, and I'm damn glad with that!
[Story]
"My lady’s goal is to defeat the wizard’s ultimate golem which orbits around the Earth, the Biscuit Hammer. Then, she will destroy the Earth with her own fist. She is the lady of the ring who will save the Earth, as well as the evil Lucifer who will crush this planet. And I am her ever loyal subject." - Yuuhi, the main character.
HnS's story is, to say it quite simply, absurd in many ways. Ridiculous could be used to describe one or two plot points, in fact. Not in a negative sense though. Basically there is this giant titanic hammer floating in space called Biscuit Hammer, which will smash it to pieces, thus bringing the end of the world. A princess and 12 knights were chosen to defend the Earth, by fighting the golems sent by the creator of the Hammer, who is initially referred to as Mage, each knight has an animal companion and is gifted one wish in order to compensate for entering such a fight. Our main character is Yuuhi, a guy who had a pretty traumatic childhood, which made him a bitter, lonely and plain person. He wants no part of it until he is drawn by Asahina Samidare, the princess, and her crazy plan. Samidare only plans to destroy the Hammer in order to be the one destroying the Earth herself, since in her eyes the Earth is hers!
The story goes through several phases as we meet the other 11 knights. The pace varies greatly with those phases. There are several chapters in the middle that almost feel like a slice of life, to give a quick example. In these variations lies a good or bad point depending on the reader. Personally I loved how the story doesn't settle for one steady simple pace, taking hold of the reader and guiding him along on a journey as events go by. But I can also see people getting frustrated with it, as there are some quite slow paced scenes dedicated merely to character development. That can be quite frustrating if you’re too excited to see what’s next and how our characters will proceed. If you look at it that way, indeed it slightly breaks the flow of the story. That is something you have to be prepared for. Don’t crave for what’s next, let the author draw you in in his own way. Everything has a meaning in HnS. The story doesn’t waste chapters, doesn’t simply go to the beach for the sake of it. The simple interactions between the characters that make up a big portion of the manga is essential for the story itself.
The dialogue is quite awesome. It made me want to learn Japanese to find anything that is lost in translation. The dialogue and how it is displayed is very important here. Enjoy the panels one by one and see how they were carefully placed. Read the lines and notice their sequence and where they appear considering the characters. These small details are a part of what makes this amazing and it’s a pity that fast readers usually go through them without care. Some lines seem meaningless but may hold important value later on. Cherish every word and don’t just read as fast as possible in order to just say you actually read it.
When it comes to genres, HnS is a mix of most of them. It has drama, romance, action, comedy… There are several scenes dedicated to each of them. The deadpan humor of the beginning is hilarious, and on later volumes you can always count on the usual joke to light up the story every once in a while. I will address romance in the characters section. The action is not very good itself. You should NOT read this for the fights. This is NOT a battle manga. That’s a very important point that has to be laid out clearly. If you’re looking for awesome fights with over-powered opponents and cool power-ups every ten pages, look elsewhere or you won’t be satisfied. But if you are looking for meaningful battles that can get you excited due to your connection to the characters, then maybe you will be satisfied here. I really liked the battles but they’re in no way the main point of the manga. The drama and the emotional parts are well done but they depend on the reader. If you pay attention to the character development and feel like it was good, then most likely you will love the emotional parts. I nearly cried twice and that had never happened to me in any anime, manga or anything else. It can be very strong at times, and it is magnificently helped by the outstanding dialogue as well.
[Characters]
This is, in my most honest opinion, the best point of the manga. It has the best character development I’ve seen. It is incredible how well most of the important characters are developed. Yuuhi’s development is insanely good and actually believable. Samidare’s reasoning, personality and connections are revealed and evolved in an outstanding manner. Every wish made by the knights bears meaning considering their personalities, so by analyzing their wishes you can draw conclusions about them and see them play out later on. Here, I can’t be unbiased so I’ll just present my reasons. I’ve already said this in my Onani M. Kurosawa review but I prefer weak characters over the awesome, all-powerful, genius, gains-power-from friendship characters. I like to see portrayed the weakness in people, their dark side. It makes them more believable and relatable. Yuuhi is one of those. He’s cold at times, has no interest in pretty much anything, basically lives life just for the sake of it. That is justified and understandable by taking a look at his childhood. But he changes. He doesn’t become a hero overnight like some characters I could mention, but he changes gradually. Every volume you see a little thing changing in him. Either due to Samidare’s influence, due to his meeting with his grandpa, or to the first group of friends he ever found himself in, Yuuhi changes. He’s only human after all. Then the relationships between characters are very good as well, particularly the strange one between our lead characters. A master-servant relationship, a friendly relationship, a romantic relationship, it takes many forms throughout the story culminating in some tear-inducing final chapters.
One other important detail is the relationship between the knights and their “pets”. I hate every strange animal that for some reason shounen authors seem to love including in stories, honestly it’s just irritating and I can’t, for the love of God, understand why they’re even included in any stories at all. Well here it’s a different situation. The animals are essential. And most important of all the relationship between them and their masters is absolutely priceless. Not to spoil, but every time I read the end of chapter 6 I feel a tiny need to cry at the interaction between Yuuhi and Noi, amazing moment right there.
[Art]
The art is different from the usual. It isn’t brilliant, but you grow into it. And most important of all it fits the story and the character designs are appropriate. Considering that, not much to say here. Don’t let your first impression of the art deter you from reading on.
[Enjoyment & Overall]
I enjoyed every bit. Most things have been said already so I don’t have much to add. It’s a very peculiar manga. It’s quite hard to put into words what makes it so strange besides its ridiculous plot points, but I think you’ll get what I mean as you read on. I can’t guarantee you’ll love it, I can say it’s very likely you’ll like it, but I can safely say it’ll remain on your mind as a particularly unique experience as a manga reader. A modern classic that should’ve been more popular only in order to bring about a new age for manga, in order to give birth to pride in the industry. If that happened, maybe hearing “wow it almost feels like reading a book” wouldn’t be that much of a compliment.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 27, 2012
"Everybody's youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness." F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Oh youth and the epic journey called growing up. Most people tend to, in a way or another, be deeply defined by their teenage years. High school is a fond memory to some and a painful one to others, but I think everyone can agree that it is a unique and special period of our lives, one that has no equal. Most people quickly relate the words High School with friendship, as the friends you make in that period of time seem to leave a permanent mark in your memories and so
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does the time you spend with them, most of which is filled talking about something random or even stupid, laughing at simple and normal things, sharing mutual interests and hobbies, talking about the opposite gender in a playful or perverted way and worrying about the weirdest things. Yes, those years you spend in High School are special in a simple and silly way and it is that way that Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (DKN) tries and successfully manages to recreate in a hilarious manner.
[Story] - 8 - Daily Lives of High School Boys. That's basically it. It is a standard slice of life type of story, but one that works amazingly well. The episodes are divided into segments and focus on a big number of characters, each of them with his own peculiarities, as he endures daily tasks. To portray something so simple in an amusing way is not easy at all and I think most animes that actually try this end up filled up with dull boring moments that just kill the mood. DKN avoids that in almost every single scene which is quite amazing and even in its worse episode you'll still laugh out loud quite some times. Most segments are short which gives the comedic tone light, random and fast paced giving it a tremendous enjoyability. To sum things up, it isn't an amazing and complex storyline since it is a slice of life, but the setting and the execution of the comedy match and fit each other so well that you just can't care about how simple the story is.
[Art] - 8 - Not much to point out here. The art was acceptably good. It didn't need to be better anyway. The character design was adequate with a pretty good worn on some characters' expressions.
The animation was good enough for it. It didn't particularly shine, but I never felt like it needed to be better, so I guess they did a good job with it.
[Sound] - 9 - Alright, so I had to give the 9 here for two specific reasons. First of all the soundtrack was very fitting and comedic. The Literature Girl Song cracked me up every single time, it was absolutely perfect for those moments and just hearing the song alone will make you laugh so that's a great job there. Then the second reason lies in the voice actors. Since I'm not an experiences anime reviewer I wasn't sure about where I should talk about this, so I'm just including it within the sound for obvious reasons. Yeah I have to admit I'm a Gintama Fan, so having Sugita (probably my favorite voice actor) and Suzumura playing two of the main characters made the anime that much better. Sugita's voice fit Hidenori too well and his natural ability of making everything he says funny was perfect here. Other than them I also have to positively mention other very fitting voices like Motoharu's (Daisuke Namikawa), Ringo's (Aoi Yuuki) and Yanagi's (Yuu Kobayashi). Indeed a great selection of voice actors.
[Characters] - 9 - Probably one of its strongest points, since most times the punchlines rely completely on the characters as the humor is very character-driven on most scenes. Something very good about this series is the fact that the main character doesn't monopolize every scene, in fact it's just the opposite - he doesn't even show up in two or three episodes at all. The secondary characters are hilarious, each of them playing right into a character stereotype but adding a sort of twist to it. Motoharu, the delinquent who's supposedly badass and mature, but still get's manipulated by older girls and is strangely deep and introspective, also having an above the average sensitivity and fragile spirit. Literature Girl, the mysterious silent girl who stands by the riverside staring into the horizon lost in thought, but she's actually just a naive wannabe novel author looking for an ideal encounter with a guy by the riverside. Among many others.
[Enjoyment] - 9.5 - Maybe I'm exaggerating here but I feel that the 10 is appropriate. Most episodes went by extremely fast and I laughed like a mad man at most scenes from beginning to end. If a comedy that achieves that doesn't deserve the 10 in enjoyment then few animes do. I really enjoyed this very much and agree with people that relate its sense of humor to Gintama and Nichijou - which I also liked quite a lot. It really surprised me, since I didn't watch any trailers. I just saw a new anime called Daily Lives of High School Boys and thought "well I have 20 minutes free so why not? It'll probably be filled with female-targetted fanservice though...". Then the first episode blew me away. It's actually very easy to tell if you'll like this series or not - just watch the first episode. If you dislike the first episode you don't need to see more as you most likely won't like it at all.
[Overall] - 9 - Overall a solid comedy anime that any comedy fan should check out. Get some friends together one afternoon and watch a couple of episodes, it'll probably feel even better!
I hope you decide to give it a shot and thank you for reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 22, 2012
"Look at me! Look at me! The monster inside of me has grown this big!".
Is the righteous path always the right path to take? Is it possible to regret doing the right thing and standing for justice? Is a righteous choice with a bad effect a good choice or a bad choice? How far is anyone prepared to go to correct what wasn't wrong in the first place? In these questions we find the basic premise of Monster.
Monster is a brilliant piece. A thriller with a story so unified, steady, complex and without plot holes that puts 99% of all thrillers (be them books, movies
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or TV shows) to shame easily. It is very well thought out by its creator and manages to keep you interested even in its most calm scenes. I do have to say I haven't watched the anime, so I won't be making any comparisons, nor will I tell you which one you should watch. I decided to review this after seeing that it had just a few reviews, which surprised me since it ranks 4th.
[Story] - 10 - The best thing of this manga, in my opinion. First of all let's talk about the style of the narration and story-telling in general. For those familiar with Naoki Urasawa, you are probably aware of his particular style of story-telling, which isn't anything short of amazing. He moves the story along at his own pace, slowly introducing more and more characters, more plot points, which answer some previous questions by providing additional questions and mysteries. He also makes a great use of the manipulation of time, adding a lot of flashbacks and time leaps all the way through the story. Those flashbacks are like small puzzle pieces that slowly build a bigger picture that enable you to understand certain situations and certain actions of the main antagonist. This author’s style meets its peak in Monster, in my opinion. The flashbacks complement each other wonderfully in a way that leaves nothing unexplained. A lot of complex stories fail when they try to set up more mysteries than what they can handle, thus not giving a satisfying solution to some or even most of those mysteries, that is highly frustrating. But Monster doesn't have any of that. Even though it feels like the story takes epic proportions with more and more stuff being thrown together, slowly but surely everything comes to make sense. The perfect metaphor for Monster is definitely a puzzle. A very complex puzzle with a big number pieces to use. In the beginning you can't really tell anything of the picture, you merely see the outlines and get a general idea of it by looking at the scattered pieces. But slowly, as you piece one upon the other, everything seems to fall into place. There are no pieces missing and in the end you look over the picture as a whole and see that you have an extremely concise, completed puzzle. But I have to say there are a few extra pieces. Monster has some arcs that aren't completely vital to the main storyline and end up being used merely to build up the characters and their experiences. That is good and bad. It's good because it makes for a more complete and filled story, but bad since it takes a bit of a toll on the overall pace of the series.
Another thing that is very good about the story is the way the author managed to wonderfully present the story in several different angles. Even though Tenma is the main character, we don't always see things through his point of view. This helps us envision the situation as a whole by understanding the several sides and forces colliding here. Some of the most interesting scenes for me were the scenes with Lunge as he pursues Tenma. Those really gave us an overlook of Tenma's situation in a whole different perspective.
To sum it up, the story is great and manages to be complex without plot holes, also presenting us several characters’ points of view which only build up the reach of the story itself.
[Art] - 8 - The art is good. It's not amazing, but still good. Not much to say here. It portrayed the emotions of the characters in a subtle but clear enough way which was nice. Also, the characters actually aged and changed throughout the years, which was a nice touch.
[Characters] - 9 - Like I said before, the story isn't limited to Tenma's POV, but actually shows several other characters' too. This actually helped the character development of those characters significantly. The characters change a bit throughout the story and their goals and actions are constantly changing with the new information they're uncovering. Johan, the main antagonist, is a very interesting and quite intriguing character. In fact he's one of the best villains I've seen, managing not to fall in any of the villain stereotypes, creating a unique character that expresses so much. As we get to know him better our idea of him slightly changes, but it also becomes more and more intriguing and by the end I think that out of five different people you'd get five different descriptions of him. That just goes to show how complex he is and how well he was developed throughout the story.
[Enjoyment] - 9 - Before I started reading I honestly thought it'd be a boring manga. You know the type. Those mangas that are very well done, they have lots of details, but all in all, you just can't have fun reading them, they're just not alluring enough. Well thankfully Monster isn't one of those. As I read in a review before I started, Monster's a real page-turner. As the mysteries start getting deeper and the plot develops and gets larger and larger, you can't help but get sucked into the story. You have to keep reading because you have to understand what's going on, what lead to this situation and what's going to happen next. Though there are some parts where the pace tones down a bit, most of the manga is a great ride that'll make you want to keep reading all the way until the end.
[Overall] - 9 - Overall it's a great read that I can safely recommend to anyone. It's a bit long, but trust me it's worth your time and after a couple of volumes you'll stop worrying about how long it is since you'll start getting into the story for real.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 21, 2012
"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
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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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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