Reviews

Aug 28, 2023
I recently finished a reread of this manga and enjoyed it just as much if not more than the first time around.

Iryuu is a must-read if you like realistic fiction. The story is balanced between plausible events and the touch of suspension of disbelief that makes one more entertaining. The motivations of each character are understandable if not always admirable, and their interactions follow that same winning mix of realistic and fun.

Something that I only realized after reading was that we are very rarely, if ever, shown the internal voice of Asada, despite being the main character and pretty much everyone else having their thoughts shown. This is an unconventional choice that shows the authors understood how Asada should be used. Asada as a personality is static and indomitable, having a philosophy that works well for himself that would be a compromise of his character to change. So, the story is about how others are changed through their interactions with him.

Because of this, how 'strong' a character is doesn't factor into much of anything on its own. Really, Asada isn't even a focus but rather a means to showcase other characters; the role is switched from the typical structure using the supporting cast to highlight the main character.

A main example of this is Kihara's story. He resents Asada because of how he looks by comparison, as a surgeon and in his personal life. However, when his mother is rushed in for surgery, he drops all of that to beg Asada to abandon his own surgery and save his mother instead. Asada, featuring here only as a skilled surgeon, highlights the character of Kihara as envious but also shameless. However, the audience is also able to empathize as we have been shown how much his mother means to him. So, an entire story is realized by using Asada passively.

Even characters that seem to be nothing but anti-entertainment, like Ijuuin's attitude at first, are actually central to what gives this manga its appeal. His situation and reaction is perfectly reasonable; he resents Asada for making chaos in the department and potentially screwing his own career prospects. Ijuuin's situation deteriorates further to the point where his unluckiness becomes comical as he is continually dragged deeper into Asada's antics. Of course, the series of coincidences that drag him along follow that same pattern of realistic/suspension of disbelief.

The weakest parts of the manga were definitely portions of the candidacy story, I felt it was getting too drawn out at times. I thought the final large event was also a little contrived but I can understand wanting to have a dramatic finale.

Overall, a great manga that I'll be coming back to in the future.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice Nice0
Love it Love it0
Funny Funny0
Show all
It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login