Verienkeli5

I am not going to rate this story in categories such as: Story, Art, Characters blah blah blah

Just know the story could be shit and this book would still be a 10, in my book. That isn't to say the story isn't executed beautifully, because it is, especially in the first few volumes. The characters are pretty amazing to say the least, though there is an incredible amount of nonsensical decisions and ridiculously over complex moral mumbo jumbo that is better not to think about or your mind would just fizzle. The contorted morals of each character seems to be a big theme of this book, and while some of them make sense, they are all incredibly and annoyingly idealistic, though this does serve to drive the plot so it isn't all bad. All I mean to say is don't try to extract some meaning from this book as far as right and wrong because there really is none.

There aren't spoilers below, but it's best you go into this book knowing nothing, with no preparation. Simply let it take your breath away without getting ready for it. In a few words this is a story of epic love, that will move you in ways you couldn't even imagine. If you must know more, read below, about 100 words of why I love this novel so much.

What this story does have however, and this is the big take away, is love.
At its core this is an "epic" love story, and it will warm your heart in ways you can't even imagine. The simple beginnings, from when Maria and Kazuki first meet, becoming trapped in ______ , is unbelievably charming. The dynamic of these two characters is so so so charming, and it will capture your heart from the first couple pages. This is a story of enduring love, epic love, pushed to its limits in the most ridiculous ways possible in the world Eiji Mikage has created. That is the big take away. I can almost not describe the charm of their romance in words, it is something that really cant be expressed. The feelings that come to mind for me are joy, love, and beauty. Maria and Kazuki are brought together by destiny, and the strings of fate that bind them together work to push them away just the same. The flex, they twist, but they never break, not once. Maria's omplex inner conflict is such a integral part of their love, and is Kazuki's simplicity. Once your done reading this book, you will think back to the first volume with a kind of longing, wishing you could go back to the beginning, to start all over again. This story is of epic, enduring love, destined to repeat itself until the end of time. At least that's how I would have written it, hope I don't spoil anything.

Obviously the series hasn't finished but I thought I would comment on it since I don't see much talk.

As of the most recent chapter (13), Human Algorithm is the best piece of Ghost in the Shell media to come out in recent years. The plot so far is a breath of fresh air while also feeling completely fitting for the franchise.

Character-wise, all the returning cast feel true to themselves and they all have new looks which I feel fit their characters pretty well. The new main character added, Tsunagi, is by far the best addition to section nine ever. She is fun and cracks jokes with the team while also being able to take situations seriously. I feel like this is the type of character they were TRYING to make with Purin in 2045 and failing miserably at. Her psychic abilities are a new idea for the franchise and push the realism factor a bit but it's not too distracting.

The art work is beautiful and I really like it but it did take a little getting used to and I don't think every character translated well. Motoko for example looks REALLY weird and I honestly don't like seeing her drawn like that. All the mains look really good though, just a few side characters look strange (Mari and Shinra for example look really strange to me).

Overall I'm really looking forward to reading the next chapter when it is released in a few days,

ever since stumbling upon Jin Narumi's face on some site i was on like an ad, i'm glad i searched the origins of his official art work only to see where it turned out where hes from a Shonen Jump franchise. at first site and then reading the first chapter on VIZ media online, it was great most of everything was reminiscent of the popular Naruto franchise which was one of my favorite Jump franchises but turned into a more somewhat modern/futuristic-like version of it. the plot on globalization gives this manga a lot of potential to where it can have a big long interesting story ahead in the future so it's possible to expect more coming from the manga artist on this.

Around a month ago, I was randomly browsing through a Discord server just looking to see if anyone had mentioned any good manga or anime, and instead I came across “Children.” I looked at the messages, and was immediately interested because what I understood was that the gore was very bad, and so I was excited to see if it was truly gorey. But, I was unfortunately only 3 chapters in when I realized that it wasn’t as gorey as people make it out to be. And that wasn’t the only flaw of it, either. So, what did I truly think about everything? Let me explain.

Story - 4, or Decent
One of the biggest things I want while reading or watching a horror is a great story, but “Children” had an incredibly weird and confusing story. The story felt as if it was just about a bunch of kids murdering others, and their hatred for adults. Other than that, it felt as if the story went nowhere else. Sure, the plot twist was impressive and I didn’t expect it, but the story was nowhere close to good. It just felt like more things should’ve been explored, such as the backstories. The backstories weren’t interesting at all, and they felt like they could’ve been a thousand times better. The story also felt sort of rushed in some parts, especially when it went from chapter 12 to 13. Of course, it was an interesting idea for a story and it was pretty decent. Like it felt unique compared to what I usually read, but the flaws outweigh the pros, so I personally wouldn’t consider it anything more than decent.

Art - 3, or Poor
Now, the art is something I personally didn’t enjoy. Honestly, if anything scared me while reading “Children” it was the art style. In some scenes, it just looked incredibly weird. The faces were a big part of why I disliked the art. Like, the eyes were incredibly big and they looked kind of odd. Another thing related to the art that annoyed me was that the character designs didn’t really fit the style. For example, the main girl (I forgot her name, but I’m talking about the one on the covers) had a hairstyle that looked odd with the art style. But, there were also some characters like Rinko, Shiiru, and the guy with the gun (I think his name was Natsuhi?)
So I believe the art wasn’t the worst it could be, but it was still pretty bad. Of course, it felt like it was mainly due to the character designs.

Character - 3, or Poor
Once again just another 3, the character development was extremely poor. And as I’ve pointed out before, the designs for some of them were extremely odd. My personal favorites were Rinko, Shiiru, and Natsuhi. Of course, it felt as if they should’ve had way more development, and scenes in general. A lot of the characters felt like they were added just to be killed, and before they even got proper scenes or backstories. It was a shame, because most of the ones I was interested in immediately died. Some of the characters were extremely annoying as well, such as both of the main characters. The two of them were honestly not interesting at all, and I genuinely did not care about them. So, I personally consider everything about the characters poor.

Enjoyment - 2, or Dreadful
I was really hoping to enjoy the story, but everything seemed way too rushed for me to enjoy anything. The gore was extremely poor, and a lot of boring and bland characters died. There were only around 3 deaths that actually got a reaction out of me, 2 of which were sad and the other one was just funny. I was very bored while reading the manga, and I just kept hoping that it would get better. The only 2 chapters that I actually enjoyed were 12 and 13, but they had a really weird transition, which kind of ruined the enjoyment for me a little.

Overall - 3
While I did go into this story excited to see exactly how gorey it could get, or whose death I’d be laughing or crying over, I instead came out extremely disappointed. The story, characters, and art were just not my cup of tea with how badly everything was done. Sure, if it was longer I’m sure it would’ve been done better, but that was not the case. But for now, I’ll be keeping my score a 3.

story: 7

the premise was literally the reason why our protagonist get involved with heroine.

suprisingly, i enjoyed the story a lot even though the plot is not changing after the second chapter, it just basicly heroine asked the favor and our smart mc solved the problem with ease and in the end got questioned by heroine about how he did that so well.

nevertheless, his reasons are pretty much well written, its getting biased but i love how writer potrait the social problem at the school.

art: 3

tbf the characters are pretty and cute but the background was so poorly made or i would say lazy to add, like there is no background at all, yea just blank with character and bubble, but there are some clear direction what was going on at the page, so yea atleast you aren't lost about the plot.

character: 5

it is too early to judge but, it is so weird..
the mc suddenly become more dependable after get involved with heroine about 2 CHAPTERS LIKE REALLY ??? , despite being so awkward to the classmates especially for the girls at the first place.

the heroine also after reviewing mc's novel with class, she completely fail to understand about other problem and ASKED IMMEDIATELY to our mc how to act.... are they switch the personality between each other?

for the supporting chara, as expected they are have their own personalities and problems, not gonna say much more about this but without them probably our mc's novel remain trash and keep sitting on his chair daydreaming about hentai.

overall enjoyment: 7 ?

i mean its too early to review this manga and there is much potential about the plot, but i know why the rating is bad is probably there are no proper background in this manga. YEP it felt really missing something and kinda hurt in my eyes too ngl.

What is this? a doujin? I could not read this manga seriously because nothing about this was serious. Was this a cheap attempt at trying to market Doujins in a non doujin way? we will never know and it's better not to know.

The story for this manga is literally the same. A teacher got hired into a new school, he teaches a class of high school girl, it take a genius to know where this story is going. Before long he founds himself into a sexual situation with one of his students that kiss him and ask for sex and then from there it's just him meeting a bunch of students and having "sexual fantasies". Seriously, why was this not marketed as a doujin? feels weird man. 1/10

Yeah... It was good... Didn't feel a satisfying sense of closure with this one. It looked like it had potential to develop into something more interesting, but it's a pity it wasn't given that chance. Still, I see the art is relatively consistent. Came here after reading Velvet Kiss and am not disappointed!

Sim ... Foi bom ... Não sinto uma sensação satisfatória de encerramento com um presente. Parecia que tinha potencial para evoluir para algo mais interessante, mas é uma pena que não foi dada essa oportunidade. Ainda assim, ao ver a arte é relativamente consistente. Vim aqui depois de ler Velvet Kiss e não estou decepcionada!

When was the last time you spend watching videos some people died in accidents brutally screwed up a bit..

Well If that's the cases we have here called a not so normal website when people tried to post some gruesome lowlife stock even talk about sex or death.. all over in the internet

I mean seriously? What could be possibly wrong with that? Said that to a freaking sadist like me...

The story isn't really that ordinary... If I remember correctly There's no way out, after you participate in some random stunt game.. You should Come up with some ideas in order to kill someone then post it and now became viral after that some people reward you a price that's all.. But there's a punishment where the participants got killed when the video isn't interesting...Getting teaming up with a Psycho Sadist Bitch isn't really a bad idea..The only problem that comes from my mind is how can you trust her..
doing this onto her on self and keeping a secret to him. It's more like a hobby to her and now the guy has a weird fetish video taping numerous student die in your school. even your other member show their true colors..
"Being Nude don't make you attractive, As long as you spice them up a bit It's getting pretty much interesting," See What i thought, you're being left out and now you're becoming one of them.. Even the fanservice is becoming a borderline in every series... Due to my aspect it's a worth read.. I know some people found it "Most Fucked up Scene".. IMO Why don't you check it right now... and how good it was, Unless you're here for the PLOT but not the story..

Overall 9-1 = 8/10

"Could there be a more prescient presentation of human self-centeredness? Yet, even as the films chart the growth of individuals, the reason for the first film holds true- there is a startling stasis to the human condition." (Dan Schneider on The Up Documentaries)

TAKE NOTE TO READ YONENSEI FIRST.

It seems strange that the manga artist of the more famous Genshiken series could have a work that allows itself to be such a pure dissection of human relationships, and yet be so completely under the radar. Not merely a commentary on relationships, but on the struggles of University life, the relevance of the Law, trouble with finding employment, and the nature of how we, as human beings, fool ourselves. In 31 chapters, Gonensei charts human psychology with such a startling depth of virtuosity and understanding, that it makes even the fabulously expansive Oyasumi Punpun look a tad underwhelming.

One of the possible reasons for this is because Kio Shimoku, as a narrative writer and character creator, is unflinchingly out of his way to eliminate any sign of melodrama whatsoever. The characters all know the rules of the game. They talk with a slight meta-knowledge of the cliches that comes into play with regards to these matters, and yet, find themselves inevitably trapped when the worse possible things bear fruit. Inio Asano loves to punctuate his works with beautiful moments of human elevation, and empathy, but, Kio is all-human all-raw all-bleeding flaws, without any relent at all.

Yet, one of the reasons this work has gone strangely under the radar, seems to be because of the strange criticism you hear in places that Kio pulled things out of nowhere to make the matters even more over-dramatic, and there's a "lack of character development". These are quite possibly the two stupidest forms of criticism that could ever come out of a person's mouth in relation to the work. The latter, especially, is based on a ridiculous notion that a work has to depict this sacred notion of Character Development. Sometimes, commentary on Stasis is just as powerful as commentary on Growth. And, anyway, people who don't see development at all must be sure as hell blind in several senses of the word.

As a person who frequently goes to sites about Rationality and Meta-Cognition, I've become increasingly aware of how one of the hardest things in the world to achieve is enough prescience to escape our own horribly self-consuming mental bias. Some people, luckily, have it so that their environment from the start ferries them all the way to their grave without much of a hitch, and others struggle and die never finding out the key. Normally by telling yourself that you did something bad, you'd think you'd get out of it... but there happens to be a strange vicious cycle that may appear where by shaming yourself after doing a bad thing, you fall into a 'shame death-spiral' that leaves you even worse simply because you become too static to act, and then your fatigue takes over, and by the time you recover, you start Tabula Rasa, and the whole thing falls again. Development is achieved with viciously acquired self-knowledge, constant testing, and gradual gradual movement towards a far and possibly unreachable goal, and that's for the people who've realized this, and are actively searching knowledge bases on how to escape it.

What about the rest of humanity? There's a dreadfully horrific moment in the Up Documentaries when a lower class interviewee, filmed at 21 years old, working in a meat packing plant, makes the claim that the job is "causing his mind to rot, and I don't think I'll stay here any further". By 28 years old, when they interviewed him again, not only is he still working at the same place, but he has a family and kids now, and so he's pretty much stuck in that stability to make a living for all of them.

A nice metaphor for the psychologies of some people is the circle of hell in Dante's Inferno representing gluttony, where the temptation is also the punishment: you cannibalized others, and you yourself are cannibalized. Eventually these people either last their whole lives being eaten and somehow make a good show of it (and they spread themselves throughout all classes, from the rich to the poor), being able to contribute to human societal development in the meantime, or they break down, and get silently ferried out. Corruption, Political Scandal, Celebrity Scandal etc... are all expanded versions of the consequence of Infernic Logic, but these are only the most publicized ones. Many people get consumed every day by their own strangling mind-structure without the notion ever coming to light.

Yet, Gonensei has achieved the amazing task of showing how two people, so much stuck in their own mental biases and flaws that they've become unable to get out of the vicious loop, actually can have a chance of a healthier and better life, towards themselves, and, also, towards others. The whole range is shown here. The Triangle of 3 that Akio gets embroiled in is a straight up depiction of Infernic-Logic: people who cannot extinguish their own monumental egoisms and psychoses and end up just raising havoc with them. Akio and Yoshino fall into the cycle as well, but, are saved from Inferno to climb up to the level of Purgatory, where they acknowledge their massive inabilities to relate to people properly, and live with what they can. For a nice chunk of Humanity, right now, this is the best they can ever hope to achieve. Eventually the naturalization of psychoses turns into Stability. (Take my word for it, as a once member of one of the most rigid, long lasting, and hierarchical institutions out there. The sights you see on the top-rank do not bode well for the progressive development of humanity. Yonensei, even has a nice quote that can link to Old-Boy systems built into long-lasting structures, when Yoshino talks with a friend about how people who first enter university get along, drink, and party until in their 3rd and 4th years when they find stabilized cliques and can't be bothered to deal with the people they dislike anymore.)

Now to sink my teeth into our main characters, the everlasting stars of the show.

Akio is what you call the archetypal slacker-type, whose most idealistic form can probably be seen in Clannad, whereas quite a number of Asano's characters can settle into the more cynical range of these types, but, in whatever of Manga and Anime I've seen, it seems that Akio is the most cynical representation that isn't a straight out 'pigsty-NEET' (e.g. Ressentiment's main character). He is, in the most honest sense of the word, meandering, and ridiculously hopeless, and yet he's also strangely very smart about it. He is the purest example of an all-talk-no-action character, that depicts the worse trappings of all of the stuff I said above about people being conscious of their own flaws, yet still finding it unbearably hard to get over them. In fact, the reasons he even bothers to move out of his empty cycles are all emotional in nature. But the greatest sleight-of-hand that Kio has played in making him, is that he has made Akio a fully empathetic character, while using that very empathy to undercut the character. When you look at Akio you immediately get attached to all the pre-conceived notions you have of the archetype, that he actually has a heart of gold, and that he actually is just an unlucky dude trying to get by, and his musings are funny and deeply relatable to anyone else who has lived through a period in their life floating around like that.

Yet, it's all a magic trick, because one of the comments that another character remarks of him is that he (paraphrased) "gets involved in all the relationships, but, always manages to come out unscathed, while everyone else is licking their own wounds" and criticizes him for playing the victim card. Most of Akio's thought processes, though relatable, are deeply tilted towards himself. Part of the problem of the relationship is how he shifts the blame of his insecurities to the other party, Yoshino, and, is meanderingly quick to get back into his own 'flow'.

But, Akio is outshined by Yoshino, who is another beast of a character in terms of complexity. In fact, the only reason Akio grows is that Yoshino outplays him in getting him to, as painfully as possible, realize his own flaws in a deeply fundamental way. Yoshino is a character who is, in the similar way that Alex Sheremet describes Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall, "smarter" than others, but more fundamentally flawed in her own biases, and her inability to untie these biases. All these culminates into one of the most intense scenes in the entire manga, where her whole psychology is developed. And yet, none of the psychological turns are really unprecedented. She had early signs of it, like the long string of 'idiot boyfriends' (indicating her interests only in relationships that serve to bolster her intellectual ego), or her control freak mentality in certain sections.

And yet, even on a level above psychology, the Law serves as a recurring motif within the work itself. The complex depiction of a relationship is linked with the complex notion of why the Law exists. It is pointed out that crime will exist despite the Law, due to individual motivations, and yet by having it written down in full, the baseline for human interaction is provided. Yoshino dances on the thin line between her belief in the idea of the Law, her profession only taken out of pragmatic comfort, and her own failures as a moral being. Within this larger context of a societal Law, which Akio is forced to live by, and desperately tries to opt out at every turn, he also has to deal with the intricate needs and desires that have to be balanced between himself and Yoshino in their flawed relationship. This 'Necessary Evil of the Law' plays out on an individual level, between two people, underlining the small fundamentals which all Crime is based on.

But, at the end of all this, one finds the ending amazingly graceful in its resolution. Neither static nor gratuitously developed. A bit of forward momentum, which is, really, the most important thing that can be gained at the end of any long and arduous struggle. Some people have the pathways lubricated entirely for them, and we must be nigh egoistic and presumptive to assume the same ways will be open to ourselves, but, with their own crosses to bear, others, slow and steadily, tread on.

Story 6/10
Art 10/10
Character 5/10
Enjoyment 7/10
Overall 7/10

I have a soft spot for shoujo manga so I tend to be more forgiving of it. I did enjoy reading this manga despite a few issues...

The characters are poorly developed and I never particularly sympathized with them. You don't get to learn much about them other than their personalities, which remain unclear/inconsistent (especially the male lead). The second male lead was promising at first, he seemed protective and had good intentions but then he just disappeared and you didn't learn much about him either. They were a bit static.

The story has little conflict besides misunderstandings between the two protagonists and very little outside conflict is introduced. When it is, it just disappears instead of having a build-up and resolution.

Despite these things, I did enjoy reading it. If you want a quick, light read and aren't looking for too much substance, go for it. I went in with lower expectations. It's fluffy and has a few cute moments, I didn't think it was that terrible. However, if you want a compelling shoujo romance with character growth, conflict and lovable characters, I would search elsewhere.