blazebolt77

Here is my review of Akatsuki No Yona by Kusanagi Mizuho.

Story 9/10:
The story is very good. The first chapter is very gripping, and Kusanagi always leaves her chapters off on a cliff-hanger or a suspense scene. It's very well-written, there's some humor scenes, some tension, some romance and that's what made me like this manga. I still feel that the story could use a bit more movement in the love scenes... I mean, the main character's guardian, Hak, loves the main character but he's always reluctant to make movement for his own good...

Art 10/10:
Brillant. Beautiful. Detailed. I loved it and the art's a big 'yes' for me. This mangaka can draw anything. Big palaces, beautiful cities and of course, interesting characters. I don't even need to say that the art needs improvement. It's gorgeous.

Characters 9/10:
All the characters have distinct personalities. They all have their own story and it's understandable to see why they are like themselves or why they are doing certain things. All the supporting and main characters are indeed, very interesting. There are some characters I wish to see more of and know a bit more about and I do wish the main character becomes a bit more independent (not like she isn't already), which is why I hesitate to give a full score.

Enjoyment 9/10:
I personally find this manga enjoyable. I love love the ancient theme, the fantasy, the legend, the characters... Story does sometimes go off the main plot after chapter 60+, for some chapters which pulls 1 point off my enjoyment, which is why this section is a nine, but it's still brilliant and does make up and link up to the main plot.

Overall 9/10:
This series is amazing! If you're a fan of ancient-themed, romance, harem and fun characters, then this series is for you. It's gripping, suspenseful and enjoyable. I personally think this series is highly underrated and I do wish it was more popular for license in English.

A gentle breeze blows past, the overgrown grass seeming to dance through it, you can near taste the saltiness of the sea. You're heading towards Cafe Alpha, a lonely, quiet cafe on a cliff overlooking a small beach. You know that on a quiet day like today, you'll be the only visitor. Alpha will take your order, and sit with you while you drink your coffee, talking to you about anything, everything, laughing, getting mad, and maybe after a while she'll just start staring off into space, deep in thought. It's hard to believe that she's a robot, with the way she moves and acts, the beauty of her mind, the music that she plays, the way she wistfully looks off into the distance. The last time you visited her, the first time, was years ago, yet she remembered you instantly. Maybe next time you visit, years down the line, you'll be considered a regular...

It's hard to put into words the way Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou makes me feel, with its constant beautiful art, most often taking up whole pages or close to it, its amazing use of colors, of silence, of sound, and of smell. The incredibly memorable characters and world; the blend of lighthearted and comfy slice of life in a quiet place where everyone knows each being offset beautifully by the knowledge that the world around Alpha is dying, or perhaps already dead. The oceans continuing to rise, whole civilizations disappeared without a word...

Alpha Hatsuseno. A robot who never grows older, who lives alone at her cafe, which gets about one visitor every three or so days. Her life is melancholic, waiting for news from her owner, who's been abroad for years, watching her young friends grow older, watching time pass all around her, but not for her. The world around her is peaceful, but somber. There's something strikingly beautiful about Alpha, behind her pretty looks and cheerful demeanor, there's an incredibly human feeling to her. The manga does well to present this to you with the use of Kokone, who, as a fellow robot, reminds the reader that Alpha is, in fact, artificial. Kokone is a more normal robot, acting less emotive than Alpha, when the two meet, Kokone is entranced by how human Alpha acts in comparison to her. There's something special about Alpha, the way she puts her emotions into playing her moon harp, the way she acts so carefree and content, the way she casually talks to everyone she meets. Everyone is entranced by her image.

The writing of the manga is superb, and very hard to talk about without also including a discussion of the art. The manga has so many moments where so little is written out in word, but so much is said otherwise, a fair handful of entire chapters with nothing or next to nothing said, Hitoshi Ashinano only using the art to communicate to you the emotions felt by Alpha, or what otherwise is occurring. These chapters may not be the majority, but they left so much of an impact on me, I found myself moved near to tears many times. When actual words are used, they're always used well, interactions between characters give you exactly as much as you need, there's never any unnecessary words exchanged. Alpha's thoughts written out to you have a beautiful feel to them, in many cases being nearly, or perhaps properly, poetic in nature. The manga doesn't shy from exploring the nature of Alpha's artificial intelligence and the way it causes her to interact with the world around her, but it doesn't go too far, it never bores the reader with any technical bits, or anything of that sort. Ashinano's use of words is superb, his descriptions of sounds, smells, and the animation of the world is so very immersive, it really solidifies the setting in your mind. His characters also benefit from this, not one isn't memorable, the friendly Ojisan who's always growing too much vegetables, the elusive Misago and her mysterious ways, the young Takahiro who's very fond of Alpha, or even the little seen characters like Nai and his airplane.

The writing is complimented greatly by the beautiful, breathtaking art throughout the manga. It's hard to really think of any particular part where the art of the manga wasn't at the absolute least good, with Ashinano not at all shying away from using the whole page as a single panel, or from having a lot of blank space showing just backgrounds, the sky, and the like in order to give the work a more gentle, and perhaps more lonely feeling. Speech bubbles, when they are actually used, never really get in the way of things too much, and in general the art isn't cluttered. When color is used, which happens more often than most manga I've read (with at least 1 full chapter in color in each volume), it's used very well, and looks very, very pretty and soft in all cases. It's hard to really describe in words just how beautiful the art is, so instead I will put here some examples:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/479018845852401684/759152551597441054/x20.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/479018845852401684/759153713616388126/tumblr_mly7toWeSg1snxlqfo2_1280.png

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is an amazing, wonderful manga. Ashinano's use of writing, art, characters, settings, and the like are all incredibly well done, there's truly nothing I can say about this piece that is in any way "bad" whatsoever. The work was so extremely touching, emotional, introspective, and beautiful that I started crying when I finished reading it. I absolutely, 100% recommend Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou to everyone, regardless of your taste. It's more than just a simple shopping trip to pick up coffee beans, it's a journey of the self. Thank you for this wonderful work of art, Hitoshi Ashinano.

Certainly not a work which will satisfy everyone's senses. Not only is it initially abstruse in its presentation, but its esoteric nature could repel casual readers and those who'll dive into it with expectations of a typical horror work.

It blends myths from Buddhism and early Jomon and Yamato cultures with intent to tell story of a certain boy's divine journey. Problem lies in educational input which breaks immersion and makes the reader feel like in the middle of a lecture. Abundance of various traditions, names and places, accompanied by substantial explanations makes it feel like a chore you need to endure to finally proceed with actual story. Of course, some readers could find it enjoyable to learn about different myths and perhaps end prompted to explore them more meticulously, thus further elucidate the intricate story.

Important to mention, are evident Lovecraftian influences manifested in the famous fear of the unknown, which is present from the start to the end. It certainly adds an enjoyable dose of macabre, and will make fans of the aforementioned author feel at home.

Morohoshi's art style doesn't quite shine as far as depictions of characters are concerned. At some parts they even appear rushed. Reason for this is that he focuses more on creation of an eerie atmosphere, so expect to see some very detailed elements that pertain to overall sense of horror, such as statues, various monstrosities and symbols.

Characters in this work are more or less consolidated in their roles of a plot tools. Some of them succeed to arouse interest to a certain point when you realize no extraordinary development was ever intended. I can't say that it harms the overall impression much, but other way around would have definitely improved it.

All in all, it is a commendable fusion of facts and fiction. If only Morohoshi focused more on the presentation and extended work to a couple more volumes; that would have made narration easier to follow as opposed to this questionably tolerable and condensed outcome.

Published a full 2 years before the release of the infamous OVA of the same name, Tony Takezaki's Genocyber (genocide + cyber, get it?) is a manga that tries to do a lot of things, but just can't pull them off too well. The manga begins with a fight scene and some exposition about the world for one chapter, before shifting to the Genocyber's backstory for the next four. And then it just ends.

I wanted to talk about the length of the manga later, but I just can't speak to the manga's quality without making the most glaring problem explicitly clear: this manga is cut way too early to be enjoyable. 5 chapters. That's all there is. What gets accomplished in this time, you ask? Nothing. Genocyber isn't even created in the four chapters of backstory. That's how early this got cut. And it's a real shame, but mourning something like this isn't going to do much good. On to the appraisal of individual parts.

The backstory chapters are a little light on necessary information, but they aren't bad. It's pretty average late-80s/early-90s cyberpunk stuff with more of a focus on grotesque body horror than usual. It's certainly no Ghost in the Shell, but plot-wise it's a fun little romp. The lack of explanation of anything - it's clear the author was probably going to explain stuff over time as not to make it too much of an infodump - really dampers how much one can enjoy the story, though, forcing the reader to just kind of continually go "well, okay" to everything in the story because it doesn't really make much sense. This really affects one's impressions and understanding of the characters, too, and they are most affected. The reader doesn't know why anyone is doing anything besides at the most basic level. Elaine and Diana are innocent psychic teenage girls, their dad is a moral scientist, the big bad corporation head is a villain who wants to exploit the girls' psychic power for something (it's never really explained why). Also, the evil faction employs a ton of henchmen that are either faceless or are wearing a mask. Also they might be robots? Nothing about them was explained.

The art's nothing special. The Genocyber's design is actually extremely interesting and I haven't quite seen something like it, but all we see of it is during the short fight in chapter one and a few similar-looking pieces of armor in chapters 4 and 5. Otherwise, it looks like what you'd expect it to look like, although it seems to take a few cues from American underground comics here and there. The gore is - surprise! - actually pretty light as far as cyberpunk noir goes, and definitely not anywhere near to the OVA's level of gore. It probably would have been better with more gratuitous gore, but the few gruesome massacres that remain are serviceable, I guess.

I really think that if this hadn't been cut, it could have been at the very least a solidly enjoyable series. It had everything that could have worked on a longer scale - mysteries, characters with development potential, cool designs, et cetera - but it just gets cut too early for any of that to matter. Even a few more chapters, maybe making two volumes all together, would have been enough to save this manga and make it a pretty cool buried treasure. But sadly, this isn't the case, and Genocyber is left to languish in the hell of being unfinished. Not just unfinished, but painfully, outrageously unfinished, a series that didn't even get a chance to make a case for itself.

To beak it down:
Interesting premise and the design of the Genocyber is cool, but the series' extremely short length holds it back from achieving anything notable, and instead makes it only an exercise in 'what could have been.' If you haven't seen the OVA, see that first. If you've seen the OVA and you NEED more Genocyber, read this. Anyone else? Skip it.

5/10.

I had barely stayed myself to read this manga.
If there were the equivalents of what shonen and seinen are in the general sense for the hentai genre, this would befall in the absolute pre-shounen hentai category.
This is ridiculous to me. Everything can be made sense of, but in order to make sense of this story so as to properly become engulfed by it.. Well perhaps it's actuality not possible to achieve that.
The story was very good to me in the very beginning of it, but holy cow did that go south fast.
At this point, 32 chapters in, this is.. An author's sexual ranting with an attempt at a plot to hold it all as its skeleton ..?
It's not working for me.
The thing I care about the most in any story, the characters;
They are nonsensical to me, utterly so. The MC is an empty shell, and while at it, it's the first time ever that I feel like the MC isn't the MC.
This is basically a hentai, but without the full visual aspect.
I am just sad for Yuno, the initial girl. She is the reason I liked the story in its very beginning, and right now I'm only interested in what will happen with her.
Well okay, the Sakura Kyouko of this story I also somewhat like as a character. So that's two things which aren't bad in this story for me. That's something.
Let's see where to the end of this road will lead me..
...
And with its end, I've decided to bump the story's rating from one to 2, because the final chapter is 5/10 by itself.
This is the worst manga I've read, this and Sankarea.
Don't be fooled; Naturally, that is just my opinion. If you've enjoyed this more than I have, then you've won over me, while I have failed regardless of that.

~~~This manga gives you sweet and warm feelings as you read through. This one kinda looks like a cliche but it's not. You get a different feeling that leads you to think more about this story whenever you have free time.~~~
Satoko has a very heart-warming aura based on her eldest sister personality. On the other hand, Shiguuji has a very different aura, personality, and characteristics. He's more like a nerd/bookworm. You won't be able to guess what he's thinking and what's gonna happen in the next second! He loves doing research so much that he ended up doing research on Satoko in a romantic way (...) in Ch-5 (-OOOPsssss... -I split it out!!- ). ~~~
It's so fun to read along as the story and the relationships develop slowly and deeply. The drawings are unique and clean. You can feel it as they are alive. I'm looking forward to the coming up chapters as there are only 5 chapters and two extras out there. It's so much fun to check it out if you are looking for something warm, romantic, unrequited love, interesting story, (funny), and so much more. Try it out! Very NIceeeee manga. One of the BEST for 2014 so far. !! Yayyyyy... XD~~~

A series that really caught me by surprise. While only 19 chapters have been translated I feel this series has quite a god bit of promise...as long as it plays it's cards right.

The first 5 or so chapters present the series as a generic seinen full of nothing but blood, tits and gore for the lulz. But once an actual plot sets in it actual begins to paint a very interesting verse and tells an interesting history of this clan.

Now I don't want to give away a single thing that happens since it's not very well known and I want people to read it, but I can say some small things about the series stats.

Story: I gave an 8 at the point it's at now. It has some recognizable cliches but not only does every story have those, it's early in the series so it's expected that things will start off a lil more simple. The main point is that when the story begins to set in it's told well and is consistent and the verse makes it interesting as you learn more about it. My only complaint is that I wish the series would pace itself a bit slower. Sometimes it seems things happen a tad quickly but this is a major nitpick so make your own assessment.

Art: The art is what I think really gripped me to this series. it's gorgeous as are the women. Now ecchi is in the genre tags for understandable reasons, but there's something different about the way "Fanservice" is presented here. I'm not just talking about the guro esque (if you're into that sort of thing...ugh) scenes either. I've noticed at opportunities the mangaka could use to have pantyflashes or even nudity esspecially concerning the main character, they actually choose not too. particularily in action scenes the author focuses on the action and saves the thirst for later. Also I notice the author has gone for a more subtle beauty with females in this piece. They all wear more conservative and ancient garbs that leaves more to the imagination and makes the girls more attractive esspecially the main character. Getting off of the chicks for a minute, the scenery is also stunning as are the action panels. Fights are clear, fluid, and awesome. Art is definately it's biggest appeal.

Character: as with the story there are those recognizable cliches with the characters. Again the story is still in it's beginning stages and it's still establishing the characters a bit more. I was worried because by the cover of the first volume and by the first parts of the first chapter. You get this impression that the main character is just another stoic, boring, ultra tragic past girl with no personality but being cold. While tragedy is quite prevalent, as the story goes on we see she is much more than what her initial appearance would suggest and I've grown quite fond of her. there are other characters that are presented one way at first and completely surprise me later on, but again I don't want to spoil a thing about this series sooo...

Enjoyment: now this category is a lil vague to me. If it means overall entertainment alue then that differs for everyone although I can say it has something for everyone to a certai degree. While it's definately more of a dark and sad series comedy is there and it is good. As I said before the action is quite fluid (I'd really like to see an anime of this) and if you into hot chicks they are most definately there. But if it means enjoyment as in overall tone, then it's not a happy series.Since I couldn't figure out what this category means I left it with an average but overall positive score of 6.

Overall: As I've said this is a series with a lot of promise. As in it hasn't quite broken into any great or must read territories yet, but I can see it soon becoming a well known and respected series if it gets more love. I would definately reccomend the series to you if you enjoy battle manga, but wish it was a lil more risky, if you like romances, but wish there was a lil more at stake or if you just like watching girls kickass and get drenched in blood.

When I first started reading it, I enjoyed it throughly. Over the course of the manga, the characters show reasons as to why they behave the way they do. And their stories are gradually told. Sometimes, out of the blue, there will be a big fact thrown in to the plot, but nothing too bad.

The genre of the manga is horror/psychology. There is some romance to it, though not expressed in a huge fashion. Characters are sometimes mentally unstable, but the main character is agreeable to an extent. The story starts off with Ayano being bullied and she decides to take revenge on the bullies and the bystanders because no one helped her as she was beaten half to death. It heads in a downward spiral and I wasn't expecting too much from it. But the ending left room for thought. That's not what a completed manga should do. It left off at a cliffhanger.

The art was decent, it kind of reminded me of Danganronpa (the eye shapes). The cover was mostly dark in color which matches the genre of the manga.

For enjoyment, I think I liked it quite a bit, but wouldn't say its superb. Overall, I don't strongly recommend this to people who want an actual ending, but if you want to taste the rides of the story, then go ahead, just don't expect too much.

CONTAINS SPOILERS

I forgot most of the details as I was reading it as it wasn't very memorable, so here's a quick review of what I do remember.

Story: 5
The plot is fairly interesting and not very complicated, which is fitting for just 12 chapters, but I still had some problems following along. There are some things that don't get explained and some things that don't make sense. We aren't told where the demons came from or how a severed demon arm can be wielded by anyone. It was never explained what exactly the US military was trying to accomplish with its bizarre actions.
The ending felt unsatisfying, like it wasn't resolved properly. It doesn't help that not only did Takeru not die as she was supposed to after the witchblade was severed, she's even starting to recover.

Art: 9
The art is quite good and is mostly consistent from frame to frame and chapter to chapter. Good anatomy and character design, rich colors, and good action poses. The facial expressions and panel layouts leave something to be desired, but the art is this manga's strong suit. Some of the panels could even be turned into posters.

Characters: 5
The characters were mostly average, with some being more interesting and enjoyable than others. Some nitpicks I have are: Kou, the sword guy, is somewhat shallow, and strangely dumb in some cases. In several situations he displays bizarrely poor understanding of the effect the witchblade has on its bearer, despite spending so much time around her. Some other characters are like this as well, but we don't see them display that as much so it's easier to ignore.

That military guy is either delusional or straight up insane. He goes from saying Takeru fighting the US navy is impressive to saying it’s impossible that she’s actually winning, despite calling her a superweapon a short while earlier. That instant change in reaction doesn't make any sense.

The demons were repeatedly shown to be needlessly, maliciously brutal and cruel to various innocent humans, and yet the two most important demons tried to justify it by saying that something similar had been done to them by military researchers. Not only are they overreaching, they're being massive hypocrites, which makes the author's attempts to turn them into sympathetic villains laughable. Them being shown caring about each other and hugging before they died does not erase their extreme cruelty towards everyone else.

Enjoyment: 3
You may get more enjoyment out of this than me. I didn't realize that detailed blood and gore were going to be intermingled with ecchi shots right next to each other, which ruins the effect of both of them in my opinion. I somewhat enjoyed the plot and character interactions, but the gore definitely brought this down a few points for me.

Overall: 5
This was a decently enjoyable read, but not to my tastes. I wouldn't read this again, but I would be interested in seeing what happens after or getting some much-needed backstory.

Pervyly funny and sweet~

!!!WARNING!!!
The male MC’s (Ryou’s) approach of pursuing the female MC (Ichika) is extremely dangerous. If you follow his footsteps, you will probably wind up in a cell filled with dakimakura(s). Jokes aside~ this manga should be used purely for entertainment but not for education.

!!Minor Spoilers!!
Story: 7
Really straightforward with no digression. Along the story, we will witness how Ichika embraces Ryou and actually accept Ryou’s love and warmth? o.O


Art: 10
The strongest category of this manga. Definitely an S tier manga when it comes to art figure transitions between Chibi and real-life proportion.

It is clear that the illustration of chapter 1 is a little rough when compared those of the later chapters as the mangaka was still trying to get used to his/her new work; however, as more chapters are being delivered, the manga's layouts and depictions become cleaner (I don’t really mind having no background in certain scenes) and more aesthetically pleasing.


Character: 9
Ichika: Just a simple girl, yet tolerant toward Ryou
Ryou: Was a fuckboy -> reformed and became a masochist who loves only one girl
Rio: Ryou’s sister and Ichika’s classmate/close friend who plays a significant role as a mediator

Some side characters will appear to help create some stories or scenes.
However, several other side characters will appear as they will try to get the “love” attention from both Ichika and Ryou. As always, this isn’t possible as they are just “side characters”. :P

Each character or side characters have their purposes. But the manga hasn’t reached the point of showing multiple layers of main characters’ personalities. Thus with a -1.


Enjoyment: 10
Love this manga. Definitely was relaxing and comical read while cruising through 33 chapters.


Overall: 9
This manga won’t be a mainstream Romcom manga like some others, but it isn’t something you should ignore once you find it :)