Many people probably pick up Reincarnation no Kaben (aka. Petals of Reincarnation) because it is written by the author of the memorable Suashi of Metorite.
I also have the privilege of knowing Japanese and getting to read the raw till the latest chapter (chapter 21), so I was lucky to get to the great twist of this story (around CH8-9) and fell in love!
Story: 9
Reincarnation no Kaben (let's say RnK for shot) has, as the name suggest, reincarnation theme. Indeed, reincarnation stuff may strike you as cliche at first, but this one is interesting in that characters get a 'talent' from their past reincarnation (i.e. legendary sword skills, Mathematician's stats-calculation ability...etc) of famous personalities, not the memories and all that jazz. So, it turns out to be something like an ESP, superpower manga, but at the same time quite different.
In my opinion, though it's better to be original, being cliche doesn't make a manga bad. To me, how it is executed is more important, and the way RnK is executed is so unusual. And, let me emphasise, it is full of marvellous plot twists, as expected of this author.
The story is quite on the violent and cruel side, but not all as gory as Another and Kami-sama no Iutoori-esque survival manga. At least, it is not filled with friendship, hard wprk and victory idealism.
Art: 9
The art is excellent. I have no problem telling characters apart or what's going on. The art might not be the most original and could become quite unclear in action scenes, it is much better than Suashi no Metorite. You can't help but think this promising manga now developed into a full-fledged gem! It's certainly an eye-candy in a psychologically intense scene.
Character: 10
I think this the paragon of this manga!
First of all, I really love the male protagonist. It begins with him saying how talentless he is, but it is implied that he is not a 'no-good' guy. In fact, he's hard working and get something like 80% on his exam (which is quite good). But he's not satisfied as he's like a jack of all trades, not outstanding in any particular way. And there is a valid reason for this being his background... He is not your fluffy shonen manga protagonist sprouting pretty morals and craps. He's an anti-hero (and I like that) while not being completely evil and showing hints of kindness sometimes. He's a man of contradictions, probably after his past reincarnation, which gives his character quite a depth. I will just say though that he's an intelligent character, which makes seeing how he use his ability more enjoyable than other manga with stupid protag (*cough* charlotte *cough*).
Other characters, on the other hand, may be less original, but all of them are driven by a desire as desperate as the protagonists (that they can die for it) for the ability. The female protag(?), for example, is not annoying and quite relatable. Other characters took after their past reincarnations of famous personalities, which are quite interesting.
ENJOYMENT: 10
I totally enjoy this. Probably because I'm a sadist reader who loves dark stuff, revenge and broken MC (*sweatdrop*).
I, got into this manga simply because I found the sypnosis interesting (and the mc somewhat badass-looking). I only learned that it was the very same author as Suashi later. I admittedly had a high expectation before reading this. And it was NOT a let down at all. In fact, it exceeds my expectation.
Personally, I love this manga much better than Suashi. I think the author has progressed much further from his first work.
Overall: 10
This truly is a underrated masterpiece! A hidden gem! I couldn't recommend it more.
