The manga roughly follows the story of Kei Yonagi who ha immense talent in acting. Her extreme realistic acting causes her to be engrossed into her role and world thereof.
The manga, while having an interesting premise, didn't seem to have the makings of a masterpiece. The story followed as expected and while there's interesting acting concepts introduced, it's good but mediocre. What really captivated me was this recent arc in which the story focus on the production of the "The Galactic Railroad". This arc completely blew me away. The exploration of the characters, production of film, viewing the distinct way each actor grows, their interaction, is absolutely stunning. This manga deserves every bit of praise it receives and is an absolute gem in the manga world.
Story (6): Interesting premise but develops too typically. The pacing seems awkward and fluctuates between too fast and too slow. Jumps around and doesn't flow well.
Art (7): The art is pleasant, well drawn and looks good. It's clearly able to show the depth of emotions when characters are acting and sometimes looks gorgeous. Not anything too special though. It does it's job but doesn't go beyond that.
Characters (7): Excluding the previous arc would have landed this at a flat 5, low 6. The new arc is excellent at showing three dimensional characters. Despite this, the main character is still too lackluster and poorly written. The characters are interesting enough and the chemistry is intriguing enough to ignore a majority of flaws though.
Enjoyment (9): While it had numerous flaws, its a wonderful manga. Truly a gem and I highly recommend reading, despit- actually, especially if, you have no interest in acting. It left me starry eyed for hours after reading it and I look forward to the direction it takes.
Overall (8)
