For everyone and everything there is a first. A first house a first love but also a first manga. For I Wadatsumi was that first manga. And by how somebody got to read an obscure manga like this as his first rather than one of the big Shounen ones is a valid question about me, this review is about the manga.
Wadatsumi is the titular character and is a young boy who lives with a group of older men on an island. The world around them seems to have been flooded leaving only sunken buildings and metal coated fish behind. As they scrape to survive, Wadatsumi find a girl washed up on the shore who hands him an octopus like device. Over the course of the series it is shown that multiple people possess devices like these and have supernatural powers from them. Which the Wadasumi also unlocks after it turned him from a young boy into a full grown woman. Something he seems he notices and then just roles with it as he never turns back. The series concludes with all the squid devices destroyed and the world finally having a glimmer of to return to normal.
Story:
Wadatsumi is a mess. It has the format of a long running manga with only 15 chapters to tell it in and it shows. The ending was forcefully rushed to make everything tie up neatly and cuts over so many characters that would have likely gotten entire battle arcs to deal with. But the end is not where the problems start. From the beginning there are many phasing flaws, for shadowing that just doesn't leave you interested, but more wondering what the hell is happening and a lot of things not explained or rushed over for the sake of saving time. The fact Wadatsumi changes into a woman suddenly are never fully explained out of him activating some inner power of the squid devices. This leaves the world sore fully lacking the entire run.
Art:
Oh boy does this manga have some art. Is it good? Noooooo, it is not. Decent at best and offending at its worst. There is often a lot of unclarity and the fight scenes are just a mess of blurs and wipes. The best artistic moments are sadly the fanservice parts which don't contribute ever. Probably the worst offence in the manga is actually Wadatsumi her female design. which seems to lack any and all intestines while sporting a huge bust and ass and a messy hairstyle with giant eyelashes.
Characters:
The characters are for the most part pretty okay. They are clearly set in the standers Shounen tropes of dimwit meat for brains MC, Kind and always grounded lead female the leader of the enemy organisation is the emotion less "I actually want to help the world" type that you can spot a continent away. But even if they add nothing really new to those tropes they don't break them with weird things or fail to even follow them. They just are what they are and are just okay.
Enjoyment:
I am a story guy. I want a good story to really enjoy a manga. But even so I had quite fun reading this. It will never be the most amazing thing ever. But it is a fun route in a generic setting with a few interesting concept, throwing around that just never got to go anywhere. But it was fun. Wadatsumi is just a fun character to see bounce around and fight for 15 chapters and then call it an end.
Final statement:
It's pretty much a mess. And while I personally had my fun with it. It is doubted many others will. As such I can't recommend reading it unless you are sure you want to see how it makes water burn. So better to try something different.