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Apr 28, 2022
Gintama is something I humbly believe any anime viewer should try to experience at least once in their life. Even if you end up not liking it. This may sound conceited coming from someone like me who purposely tries to stay away from things that are continously sung praises high and low, online and offline, but I mean it.
The whole thing is a hit or miss. You're either gonna vibe with it or you're gonna completely hate it. And that's fine. I myself found myself grimacing at some individual episodes that I found extremely unfunny, repetitive and just downright boring. But looking at it as
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a whole, it's definitely a work of art.
I personally think one of the reasons it's either liked or lumped by anime fans is because of the nature of it's comedy. Yes, it's balls-up-the-walls crazy and weird as fuck--and I dig that--but the comedy in Gintama in essence is obviously very Japanese. And there are some people who, despite not being Japanese, have dabbled enough in the culture (albeit through distorted lens such as anime, manga, idols, etc.) to enjoy the comedy and find it amusing. And then there are others who simply don't get it and don't get the kick out of it others do. And once again, that's fine!
Cultural differences can definitely be a critical factor in defining whether or not the joke landed when it comes to Japanese media that is comedic in nature and is being consumed by a non-Japanese audience. Japanese comedy is very different from Western comedy (as well as middle eastern comedy--both of which I've simultaenously grown up with) and as a result it's a valid reason to not find the punchline the straight man yelled out or the seemingly nonsensical lyrics sung funny because again, you just didn't get it. This happens a lot throughout the series, and I'm sure it'll happen more in the seasons ahead I've yet to watch, but with the added visual gags and stellar voice acting performances from the entirety of it's ginormous cast, along with the tongue-in-cheek references and mockery you may or may not appreciate, Gintama still may manage to get a chuckle out of you at least once.
Which brings me to another reason it might not roll with viewers--the references and constant 4th-wall-breaking as the joke. In other words: meta comedy. This concept is something I've seen anime fans very sharply divided on as well; some people don't find it funny at all and instead a lazy way employed by anime and manga creators to go "Ha! We have accomplished comedy on a more intellectual level!" I can't lie and say it didn't irritate me either at times, especially when almost 40% of it was "Uh-oh! We say bad word and cold truth and now we in danger of getting cancelled! Tee-hee!"or "Ha-ha, we so broke we reuse same static scene and constantly emphasize it to show brokeness!" over and over again. It's clever at first, I admit, but for me it did get old after the first few bouts. And maybe that's the point and I'm just too much of a lowly being to understand the refined and deliberately repetitive humour of Gintama. Did that stop me from continuing to to rip at it like a lion does to a zebra in a time of desperate hunger? Evidently not.
I can kind of understand why some people refer to Gintama as a masterpiece, though. It is the entire cake and then some; it's got every single genre and trope and character archetype and even dirty fetish you can think of. There is something in it for every kind of anime viewer, period. It's simplistic yet expressive, the art style and animation are standard enough to not be considered "outdated," the gargantuan fruit basket of characters generously gives each one their own unique personality, no matter whether they're one-off mobs or part of the main gang, and all of this is elevated by the sound in terms of both soundtrack and voice acting, which is the cherry on top to end all cherries on top. Like, even though none of the main cast members are my favourite actors, I just loved them to bits in Gintama. They are the lifeblood of the whole damn thing.
Looking at it in hindsight, Gintama is impressive. It's bold. When I think about how Japan was and still is such a conserved and straight-laced society, especially when it comes to speaking candidly, it makes sense Gintama is so hyped up there and elsewhere. It's a breath of fresh air and probably even moreso in the time period it aired because no one else was really doing that onscreen then. They literally took the piss out of everything: goverments, celebrities, foreigners, other anime, even their own production company. They said "we're going to shit on all the things you like and/or respect and no one can do anything about it (except kick us off our primetime timeslot--which they already did, so fuck you!)" and went for it, zero regrets. It's a bit clumsy about it at times, but nonetheless charming and also makes you wanna pray for the wellbeings of the folks behind it. Seriously, if this whole thing is one giant vent, I hope they're doing better now.
And overall, I love the message that Gintama pushes: you can do anything if you believe in it hard enough; you just need guts and balls. Big balls of silver.
I look forward to watching more of this delightful sci-fi history coleslaw, and I'll probably have some more to say when I'm finished with the entirety of the series. As for this first part, I adored it and implore anyone who hasn't gotten a spoon of it yet to do so as soon as they can. (And if you don't want to, go stand out in the hall!)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 11, 2020
Every so often while I'm sifting through all the crap the shounen ai tag has to offer (and believe me, there's quite a bit of crap there,) I'll find a gem that turns out much better than I expected. Despite my lack of interest in the historical genre as a whole, Japanese mythology and spiritual themes tend to fascinate me as they're far as can be from my own beliefs and culture. And so, I decided to crack this one open for a good read.
Toukaidou Hisame amusingly relays the tale of Hisame, a baby-faced priest doubling as an exorcist and his pansexual playboy pursuiter Itsuki,
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a monk who smiles like Hiruko Kagetane and speaks solely in "♡" (which is literally the best thing ever, especially when he's threatening murder.) Together they journey across the Tokaidou, kick some mad youkai ass, flirt (at least, Itsuki tries to,) kick more youkai ass, get laid (again, this is mostly Itsuki) and...did I mention they kick youkai ass?
Admittedly, I've read a good number of manga that follow the exact premise of "The Travelling Priest & Co.," but I found that Toukaidou Hisame was more formulaic, rushed and a bit repetitive. That's to be expected from a manga that spans only 8 chapters, but it's solidly entertaining enough that nothing really feels overused or boring. An interesting theme was that Hisame is somewhat of a pacifist, opting for as minimal damage as possible when performing his exorcisms, no matter how deadly the monsters were. In contrast, Itsuki is someone who'd happily spit on a corpse while smiling like a cherub, so long as it's for his beloved Hisame-chan. Seeing them both trying to work all that out was, for the most part, amusing, but when the twisted reality hits Hisame that sometimes damage just can't be avoided, it hits both him and the reader hard. It makes you think about what justice really is and the whole "doing the right thing for the wrong reasons" kind of thing.
To weigh out the darker themes, there's what really sets the manga apart from the others for me: Itsuki's continuous failed attempts at courting his childhood friend. I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Well it bothers his friend, isn't that just harassment?" Technically, yes. (Making a great case for myself so far.) But it's pretty clear that Itsuki seriously loves Hisame and isn't just after his bottom. He even mentions that his love for Hisame transcends gender. He constantly puts himself in the line of danger for Hisame and is completely under his word. As funny as it was to see that signature BL slapstick no-homo nonsense, I couldn't help but feel bad for Itsuki. It was one of the few instances where I felt that the love the characters held was genuine. You'll get him someday, tiger, I know you will.
On a lighter note, the art was absolutely beautiful. It was slick, neat and consistent, and everything from the backgrounds to the character's clothes & weapons were intricately drawn to the last detail. The art style is reminiscent of Bleach's art, it has more of a shounen feel to it rather than the soft stylistic art most manga in this vein possess. This makes for an enjoyable experience regardless of whether you're a fan of the genre or not. I especially loved Itsuki and Kagetora's character designs. I seriously wish we could've gotten a better look at that massive tattoo on Kagetora's back, though.
My one gripe is that it was too short and therefore too rushed, especially towards the end where new characters kept getting introduced and it seemed like the mangaka was just scrambling to wrap things up by weaving a quick but logically-sounding backstory and connection to the other characters and then calling it a day, but that more or less made it fall flat on it's face. The ending kind of came out of nowhere, and nothing is really resolved. It's cool to end series on cliffhangers, but this one just felt like someone was holding the mangaka at gunpoint and pulled the script right from her hands before she could come up with a better thought-out conclusion.
Fortunately enough, though, there's a sequel, and from what I've seen by skimming people's comments, it's longer and does a much better job at telling the story the mangaka wanted to tell here (fingers crossed that Itsuki finally gets the guy.)
Toukaidou Hisame overall makes for a fun and short little ride into the feudal era of Japan with quirky characters whose gut-busting interactions lighten up their surroundings amidst fierce and brutal fighting scenes. It's definitely not as developed of a world as one would hope, but it's a magical one you'll most definitely enjoy falling into for the little time you're there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 19, 2020
Gyaru or as known to the Western world, "Gals," are the gaudy, hilariously tanned party animal girls of Japan that were quite the hot issue back in the 2000s. They're what would be if the popular white girls of Cali spent every afternoon at a Brazilian tanning salon and romped around downtown with flashy hairstyles and clothes that look like a unicorn's salad. And most importantly, there's a manga about them. And it's actually much better than you'd expect!
On the surface, GALS! seems like your run-of-the-mill uber-girly shoujo manga from the 2000s. It's got the same big bubbly eyes plastered on every female character in
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the story, it's got a handful of conveniently handsome hunks, and everything about it basically just falls under the category of something that'd get you beat up if you were caught reading it in the locker rooms (back in the day, of course.) But to pass this manga off for those trivial reasons is one hell of a crime. It's complexity and variety of true-to-life topics it deals with, blanketed with routine gags and cheesy romantic subplots are a delightful surprise and one that would make you guffaw if you were to look back at the cover and think "something like this, is actually something like that?"
GALS! starts out basically like a gag manga; you've got the main character Ran Kotobuki, self-proclaimed "Queen of Gals," who lives solely and proudly for the present with her girlfriends and doesn't give a flying frick-frack about the past and future. She also couldn't care less about love, complex relationships or studying; she'd rather put all her focus into picking out the perfect outfit, stuffing her face, and trying to wheedle some extra dough out of her tight-knit policeman father (who is completely done with her B.S.) She's loud, she's mean, she's a hardass when she needs to be, but a complete dumbass otherwise. You take one look at Ran and think, "How the hell is she a shoujo protagonist? Why should I like her?" but that's only because you're comparing her to what I like to call "wet cardboard" protags (found in 95% of shoujo manga) and that's where you're wrong.
Ran and her friends seem perfect on the outside. They're pretty, popular, they've got mad fashion intellect, and they radiate pure moxie and spunk. But the point of the manga was to show young readers that not all which glitters is gold. They're not cookie-cutter bubbly-eyed Queen Bee girls. Each and every one of the characters is flawed and do or say things that will probably piss you off (and I admit, I got pretty pissed at times) but that's a sign that the story and it's characters are GOOD. They act and say things irrationally like real people, and later suffer due consequences. There's the stubborn, holier-than-thou bitchy type, there's the clingy insecure type, the wild-child-turned-tamed type, each one with their own backstory and point-of-views and each of them struggling in their own ways. The "romance" in GALS! isn't very orthodox, either. The entire manga is unpredictable for better or for worse.
The topics that GALS! deals with are the real gem. They range from the mundane such as dealing with exams, personal goals, and work, to the much more dark and serious, like bullying, stalking, self-harm, suicide, theft and fraud, and even child neglect and abandonment. They're all written and dealt with very skillfully and responsibly, in my opinion, and the morals to be learnt from each situation shine in contrast to the manga's otherwise glitz and glam nature chronicling the Gals' everyday adventures between school and Shibuya.
I can't let this review slide without noting some of the disappointments I came across in GALS! To begin with, the more darker-tanned girls (Ganguros) are drawn and treated in a...quite inappropriate manner. I understand that this is just one of the many Gyaru styles, but here the Ganguros are seen as ugly, disgusting and unworthy. Why? Because of their dark skin tone and lips. That's literally the ONLY reason why. It raises a lot of red flags and shows you that no matter how good a manga can be, mangaka are prone to fucking it up by cracking a joke solely at the expense of a character's appereance. Not very good for a manga aimed at children. There's also a slightly uncomfortable minor/adult relationship, which, unfortunately, is one of the main focuses of the manga so if that kind of thing irks you, you could just gloss it over like me, but if you can't, pass (let it be known though that nothing "explicit" happens until the minor is of age.)
On a more positive note, the art is absolutely gorgeous. Everything is drawn so neatly and the constant shifts in style between normal and comical are almost seamless. Despite the pages being packed with illustrations and effects, they were never an eyesore to look at. One teeny tiny little nitpick I had, however, was that the eyes are all identical on the females, no matter main or supporting characters. I had a hard time telling the characters apart sometimes for this reason, but that's just me. I love this art style so I can't even complain that much.
Mihona Fujii is clearly someone who knows her stuff and wants to do it right. And it's apparent, as in the process of writing GALS!, she regularly went out into Shibuya to observe firsthand the daily affairs of real-life Gyaru, the places they frequent, the issues they face, etc., and she also documented her research in the sidebars of the manga itself, which were neat little tidbits I looked forward to reading along with the main story. Her effort made the story that much more worthwhile and believable, which is quite commendable. Fujii loved the culture and wanted to portray it as accurately as possible through her characters, while still making them fun and relatable. And she succeeded since GALS! is now regarded as a Gyaru Bible of sorts.
I wouldn't really blame anyone for overlooking GALS! for a mere chick-flick on paper if they saw it on a shelf or a website; we all tend to judge books by their covers, and with all literal meaning especially in manga. But this is one of those rare instances where you simply can't let yourself be bamboozled. I enjoyed it a lot, even though I went into this thinking what so many people have probably though, that this was just another colorful, flashy kiddie manga. GALS! takes the phrase "live, love, laugh" and paints it all in your face until it's ingrained in your soul. It's about having a good time and letting yourself go, living life to the absolute fullest not by being irresponsible, but by believing in yourself, doing what's right and pushing forward no matter what you might face in life. There's more to girls than a pretty face, and there's more to GALS! than just hotties, heels, and hibsicus flowers.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 12, 2020
In times like this, I think we all dream of having a gorgeous himbo merman live in our bathtubs to shake up our mundane lives a little. At least, that's how I felt right after watching this!
Orenchi no Furo Jijou or the aptly titled "Merman in my Tub" is about just that. 13 bite-sized episodes chronicling the everyday life of a stoic teenage boy living alone who brings home a merman of all things to freeload--in his bathtub. And as one would expect when picking up fantastical strangers off the side of the road--er, river, and dumping 'em tail and all in your bathroom, quite
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a bit of chaos ensues. And it's really quite fun to watch!
Seeing as this was adapted fron a 4-koma manga, I think the format of the episodes, stories, and the entire series in general is just right. There's no overarching plot, no confusing twists and turns; you could randomly pick out any episode to watch and you'd get the gist of the whole thing without really missing out on anything else. The overall tone of the anime is very upbeat and quirky (in contrast with the seemingly dark, depressing and out-of-place opening PV & song--which I personally think was a kickass move on the studio's part. Way to positively bamboozle your audience!) I watched the entirety of this while eating lunch with my little brother, which should give you an idea of how easy & quick it is to watch. And even if you didn't like it after watching the whole thing, it ain't that much of your precious time lost.
Orefuro's concept is endearing, fun, and (almost) all the colorful characters of it's world are as cute as a button. There's quite the lively cast of aquatic amigos we've got here; besides the main merman Wakasa, you've got a rough'n'gruff octopus, a shockingly sweet jellyfish, and a tiny albeit hilariously bespectacled self-loathing hermit crab (who seems to be poking fun at the unloved bespectacled hermit nerds of today...and I can wholeheartedly relate.) Of course, there is ONE other character I just couldn't stand: Tatsumi's infuriating little sister. Granted, it's quite clear they threw her in there on purpose; everything about her screams overused loli cliche, from her Nico Yazawa-like character design to her dreadful & vomit-inducing "Onii-chan complex." Thankfully, though, we're only cursed (or blessed, depending where you stand on the lolicon spectrum) by her presence for a couple of episodes until she gets the bin.
The jokes were generally quite amusing, and one episode especially had me surprisingly in stitches. I guess there's just something about a mer-himbo dumping extremely obscene amounts of bubble bath into water and then unintentionally causing an explosive impact akin to one you'd see in Dragon Ball Z that really cracks me up. The art and colours are all so damn pretty and the characters are always such a treat to look at against the neutral backdrop of Tatsumi's bathroom. I particularly loved how there were a whole bunch of different art styles used depending on the situation, from the normal style, to a more serious and dramatic one, to an exaggerated otoge-Bishie style (roses, sparkles, the whole shebang,) and to the token chibi style from the comics. The way everything is shaded, drawn, and animated is really well done, especially when you take into consideration how short it was. The sound was great; all the voice acting was spot-on (especially Maki; Tsuda's dual-tone delivery is just stellar) and that OP song is a definite banger. They cranked up the quality over quantity dial a good deal when making this, and I appreciate it.
I should mention that this series is more self-aware than many have noticed. That is, it does a great job at pandering to a slew of different sub-cultures found in the anime community. You've got the devilishly handsome fairy tale beings for the bishounen fans, that godforsaken little sister for the lolicons, siscons and moe enthusiasts alike, a very feminine looking jellyfish for the trapsters, literal softcore tentacle porn for...well, you know who you are. And the entire concept of 2+ pretty boys sharing a cramped tub is basically tasty bait for the hotblooded fujoshis and BL lovers. Well played, Asahi, you sure got me with that last one.
Orefuro is a definite gem among shorter series, but I can see it being a hit or miss with the majority of viewers. It all comes down to how much you personally enjoy all the zany tropes and gags in it, which I definitely did. If you like mermaids, hot baths, and even hotter boys, then by all means, bon appetit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 1, 2020
Are you someone who enjoys deep, exciting mystery stories with unpredictable case twists and clever plot setups but you're tired of all the Sherlock Holmes and Detective Conan? Then this manga ain't for you. However, if you're someone who just wants to read a light mystery story and doesn't mind it being mixed in with a dozen other themes and cliches (and you've got a thing for short dudes with long hair and pissy attitudes,) then you're in for a treat.
Chou Shinri Genshou Nouryokusha Nanaki (otherwise known as just Nanaki) is basically a softcore mystery manga with a supernatural theme. Since it's a short series,
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I settled for reading it over a period of three weeks so I could properly digest it rather than just binge-reading it in one night--which I'm guilty of doing with most of the manga I read. I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I initially thought I would, though I'm quite disappointed with the seemingly "unfinished" nature of the manga as a whole (I'll elaborate on this part later.)
When we first meet Nanaki, he's your average high school manga protagonist who enjoys flirting with any female he sees (and failing every single time) and being a generally unreliable lazy ass. He also survived a freak car accident, albeit making it out alive with newly-gained psychic powers which became apparent through his remote destruction of a building. Which, hey, is kinda neat. Enter Kudou Ao, whom I like to label as "The Token Cryptic Bastard," who approaches Nanaki with an incredulous claim--that he had been receiving Nanaki's telepathic messages and that Nanaki is a "PSI Nouryokusha." In other words, he's your average high school manga protagonist BUT with fancy psychic powers.
When I first came across this manga, I was also reading another one of Saenagi Ryou's works. If you know me, you'll know that I'm an absolute sucker for the late 90's-2000's SLAYERS-esque manga/anime art style, so when I first saw the cover art for Saenagi's work, I instantly fell in love. Nanaki was one of three of her works that were licensed in English by the infamous Tokyopop, and it's also the only one that's completely available online. It's 3 volumes which can take a fast reader a couple of hours to finish, but it overall manages to be a satisfying experience in what short length it is.
The story itself is quite interesting. Granted, the cases aren't exactly very complex with the exception of some tricky occult chit-chat and psychic whatnot, but that's about it. It's inviting enough that anyone from the age 12 and up can crack the first book open and remain entertained enough to move on to the next one. After a few chapters, though, you'll realize there isn't much WOW factor, but all the characters, even the minor ones, are likeable enough for you to be engaged in the world with them.
And there is (or was) a lot of potential for the LOCK agency to be it's own cool little world and for more in-depth explorations of certain events in the manga, such as what exactly happened to Ao's old partner, or why he ended up in that form and if there would be any chance of him managing to recover (which WAS subtly implied but who knows.) Sadly, like I mentioned before, this manga suffers from a severe case of rush-ititus and unfinished-ness. This series should have been, at most, six or seven volumes long, an adequate amount of pages for which the artist could properly flesh out the setting and characters without having to hurriedly cram new characters and twists, only for them to be quickly forgotten within the next chapter making them virtually irrelevant to the story without further development or inclusion.
The strongest indicator of the manga's incomplete state would be the "Warbler's Song" that appears in the beginning of the story as a lullaby being sung to Nanaki by his mother in a flashback, and then on a piece of a paper that Nanaki found in the hands of the enigmatic "Doku" (another one-off character.) You'd think that since the reference shows up for the second time, it MUST have some kind of deep symbolic meaning that could potentially tie up all the loose ends of the story. But...that's not the case at all. Besides those couple of instances, this element is never mentioned again in the story. Not even in the (abrupt) ending. Quite anticlimactic, but the author mentioned at one point in her notes that the story was about to be even shorter, so I guess it's better than nothing. It still leaves me wondering why it couldn't be longer, though.
The art is beautiful. Saenagi Ryou is a very skilled mangaka who has this lovely way of constructing character designs and expressions that make you wanna stop and observe every detail of every panel. Another nice thing I noticed is that the majority of her characters are androgynous in appearance. It's not even the radicalized, fetish-y kind either; it's just that her males don't always look 100% masculine and her females don't always look 100% feminine. And I find that really cool! You get to focus more on the characters' personalities regardless of their appearance or gender.
Which brings me to the characters themselves. All the characters, no matter major or minor, were all great. The villains aren't always very menacing or convincing as villains which some might find cheesy, but it didn't bother me so much. The fanbase seemed to be enamoured with Ao, but I found myself leaning towards Nanaki. His development was my favourite part of the whole manga. It was done pretty well for a character of his type. His "transformation" scene literally left me slack-jawed. I knew it was coming, I just didn't think it would be that brutal. I love how slowly and invisibly the relationship between Ao and Nanaki grew, how by the end of the story you could tell they grew to love and value the other, even though they never explicitly showed it. And they didn't have to.
That's the thing with Saenagi's stories; most of them have all-male leads, lack of female love interests, and yet they're never labelled as "shounen-ai" for example, but you can tell her protagonists have this unspoken profound love for the other without any fanservice or so-called "teases." They're important to the other and don't have to lip-lock or constantly blush or even be friendly to prove it. That's exactly the case with Nanaki and Ao.
In the end, I think if Nanaki was longer, it would've been an amazing series and I probably would've given it a perfect score if not for that. Not that it's any less of a good series as is, but that sudden ending and lack of any real closure would disappoint any eager reader. However, what it lacks for in completeness, it makes up for with lovely art, a compelling plot and cool characters. It's more of an appetizer than a full course meal; it'll satisfy your hunger at the beginning but make you crave more when you're finished. That aside, paranormal themes, no matter how cliched or over-saturated, are just the cherry on top of any good mystery story.
Also, Kudou Ao could kick Kudo Shinichi's investigative ass any day (sorry, Jimmy.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 14, 2020
Otona Ni Nuts. A hell of a ride reading that. I remember first coming across it around a decade ago in my neighbourhood bookstore that had a huge wall of Tokyopop manga and I was debating between getting the first volume of it or finishing up Natsumi Ando's Zodiac P.I. (and ultimately I chose the latter option.) So fast-forward to quarantine 2020 and me being bored out of my mind and trying to remember the Tokyopop titles I found in that bookstore so I could read them online. Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts (Tokyopop's title) was one of 'em. So I read it. And quite
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frankly, I regret it.
Otona Ni Nuts is, in itself, a cute, funny story idea; you've got a dumb kid who, like so many other dumb kids, wants nothing more than to grow up with haste. She's got her childhood friend who holds complicated feelings towards her and her stance, and wants her to just enjoy being a kid alongside him while they still can. But, since she's both dumb and a kid, she just can't seem to realize how much of a blessing childhood really is and ends up eating these odd genetically engineered nuts to turn her into a "sexy adult" at the most random of times and for the most absurd of reasons, from trying to seduce an older college man on a cruise ship to competing with a older masculine lady on who can be the sexiest. It's downright bonkers but that's part of it's charm.
That being said, however, the execution of the story itself in the manga was poor. It was super, SUPER rushed and all the gags and gimmicks were more fetish-y than anything. There were way too many confusing moments that came out of the blue and left me going "huh?" much too frequently for a manga of it's type and length. Also, the amount of illogical nonsense in this manga is UNBELIEVABLE (how is Natsumi's mother not questioning where the heck her daughter is skipping off to for such large periods of time? How's she letting her hang out with some wacko scientist all the damn time? If she's at public events or doing modelling while using her real name, wouldn't her parents see her? My brain hurts from all the "duhhhh")
A big chunk of the confusion came from the unfortunately sloppy art. I took a look at some of Fukushima's more recent works and it looks like that's just how her art is, but honestly the art in Otona Ni Nuts is just...not good. Even though I adore the early 00's shoujo art style generally, this simply wasn't up to par with me at all. I couldn't understand half of what was going because I literally couldn't SEE what was going on. Art that is: crowded + sloppy = recipe for a manga disaster. If I can't follow through with a story because of its art, that automatically ruins the story for me, no matter how good the story is. And I can say for sure now that I won't be checking out any of Fukushima's other work because of this.
The characters were fine. Bland, unfunny, and not much else to them other than that they're all airheaded, rude, and shameless (especially Natsumi, flashing her rack for all to see without much thought or reprimand.) The adult characters bothered me the most, like the scientist and his tomboy lover. Why a fully grown adult would constantly go head-to-head with a literal child in a competition of sexiness is completely beyond me. But hey, manga right?
I'm a bit confused on how this was serialized as a manga for younger girls, since a lot of the moments were akin to the ecchi fanservice you get in shounen manga and anime. But I guess maybe that was supposed to be the deal-maker here? Showing that young girls can enjoy gross humour in a coming-of-age (if you could even call this "coming-of-age") story too? If that's the case, then I'm pretty sure there are better manga out there that fit the bill. This manga also never garnered any kind of notable attention contrary to most Nakayoshi-serialized manga, but I think anyone else who read it can tell why.
In conclusion, Otona Ni Nuts is a hilariously dumb attempt at a potentially good story concept, and it's one manga I'm putting on my invisible "Store-away-in-the-dark-abyss-of-your-mind-and-never-think-about-again" list.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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