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Smells Like Green Spirit is an absolute mess of a manga. The plot swings from one thing to another fast enough to give you whiplash. There is a lot of simply absurd stuff that happens, with no real build up except the author deciding that this is what was happening now. The characters' motivations are bizarre and unpredictable. There are some really troubling yaoi/BL tropes that are used as a fall back to create drama, with literally no fall back or substance at all. The whole premise on which the manga opens (a gay kid being bullied) ends up having little to no bearing on ... the characters involved and their course through the story.

Honestly, the series is not great. It's not even good. I didn't give it a rock bottom rating, however, because of the last few chapters. They really confused me because they became, if not good of themselves, then like they had been taken from a better, altogether more grown up series. They didn't fit with the ridiculous tone set by every chapter previously, but they were actually pretty good. They made me feel emotions for the characters, where none of the earlier dramatic hijinks had done.

There are a couple of good side characters, and a few funny bits. There's a lot of abysmal stuff to wade through, but it's a short series. Read it if you fancy something that's not going to demand a lot, but also isn't going to give a lot.

If there's one word to describe Hourou Musuko, it's meandering. It's long, and it feels long. You cover a group of kids' entire school days in the span of the manga, which is pretty impressive. In that way, you do grow attached to the characters. They're with you for so long that they become very familiar.

And I think they will be with you a long time, because this really isn't a manga to storm through in a couple of "can't wait for the next chapter, must keep reading!" sittings. There aren't many cliffhangers, and the pace can seem quite glacial at times, circling back on ... itself, or fixated on small things. That's not to say that Hourou Musuko doesn't have high points where it's a joy to experience, it does. They're just scattered throughout quite a long span, so you're likely going to pace yourself with this series.

The themes are quite complex, and handled delicately. To some extent, I wanted the author to bite right in, instead of nibbling around the edges, but I guess it does build up the tone of kids trying to figure themselves out quite well. The tone is absolutely slice-of-life, with underlying plots running as themes throughout, but often not being the main focus.

I decided to read Cat Street because I had watched the drama as a teenager, and it had been like a comforting hug at a time I was really struggling. I was in a situation not dissimilar to the kids in Cat Street (although not with such a dramatic backstory, unfortunately), having dropped out of school because I just couldn't cope.

Had I read the manga at the same time, I think I would have loved it thoroughly. Now, with a few more years under my belt, and a level of detachment from that mindset of teenage alienation and struggle, my opinion is perhaps a little ... different. It is still a manga worth a read. It's got good heart and really does make a solid petition for kids on the outskirts at life. If you're a teenager who is outcast or not attending school, read this. It could be just what you need.

Other than that, some of the story is actually a bit too typical for my tastes these days. I guess I wasn't really interested in the love story element when I was younger, and this time around it felt a little forced to me. I couldn't really get behind the main couple.

There are definitely a few funny and heartwarming moments in this manga that stick out to me, and that give the characters their own personalities. They are not, however, characters that really jump off the page or stick in my mind that strongly.