WaiifuPillow13

Solo Leveling is a very good Manwha and I personally like it though there are some lackluster aspects that I will go on to explain.

Story:7
Overall the story is pretty alright though it becomes a bit repetitive which lowers the impact of certain scenes with the manwha. But it does a pretty good job. I like it because I'm fine with the repetitiveness but hey this is probably its weakest point.
Characters:7
This is arguably solo leveling the most troubling aspect to most. Aside from Sung Jinwoo(Main Character). Most of the other characters lack actual scenes with them in it. Cha Hae In could've been great with her whole hunters smell bad thing but lacked time. All we really know about her is that she is op a 6/10. Though they do good with the healer that is a good friend with s rank hunter baek yoon ho. In which they display his kindness in that one scene in which he heals Cha Hae In. In one arc they did his character good. Which is one of the main reasons i gave this aspect a solid 8. Also, Sung Jin-Woo is also a pretty good character as expected of the mc. He strives to heal his mother and is truly kind-hearted when it comes down to it. And his perseverance is stunning especially during the double dungeon incident where he continues even after losing a leg.
Art:9
I really like the illustrations and detail put into each page. Especially during the fight scenes, the greatest one has to be when Sung Jinwoo fights Beru those mutilated and punches were astonishing.
Enjoyment:9
I really liked which is mainly due to my disregard for repetitiveness and I believe that it is consistently exciting through each chapter.
Overall:9
I liked and hope whoever reads it will too.

Firstly, I read this with the mindset of not expecting this to be exactly like the anime that it's based off of. You should never do that with any mini manga series that was based off a long anime, unless you want a guarantee you'll be disappointed.

After watching the anime and finding out there was a manga adaptation, I was curious about it. I went in with the mindset to read this manga as it was its own thing. Including the understanding that there will some changes like minor/major plot points being alter and characters from the anime will removed or changed in the manga because it's a short story.

On it's own, the princess tutu manga is actually pretty good. It tells the same story as the anime, but shorter and differently. In comparison I do liked the more dramatic and convoluted story the anime has.

The manga is a more simple story about a human girl with the secret identity 'Princess tutu' and her duty of returning heart shards to an emotionless prince, while a rival magical ballerina princess tries to stop tutu out of fear she'll lose the prince if his heart is restored....there's admittedly more to it, but I don't want to spoil it.

There are some scene for scenes panels in the manga, but with some minor changes. Like Ahiru waking up thinking she's late and shows up to class early, Tutu dancing a Pas De Deux alone, and a few others if you'll recognize if you've seen the anime.

The story isn't perfect, there were the equivalent of "jumps cuts" in the manga which created somewhat off pacing issues for a couple chapters.

Other than that, I like the new changes to the characters as it offers a different take on the anime's story. On it's own it's a good story and I recommend it to people who want to dip their toe into princess tutu and don't have the time to watch a nearly 30 episode anime.

If you want a simple story to read in your downtime then give this manga a chance. If you find yourself enjoying it, then please go check out the original anime!

What do this this high school boy, this pregnant woman, this ceramicist with excessively long hair and, this frigid office lady have in common? What made all these people come to this place, the Yamamoto ear cleaning shop owned by Shizue?
Sexual desire, maternal love, a broken marriage or hidden memories, each character comes with his own problems to be mended by the young Shizue.

Yamamato Mimikaki-ten is an anthology of short stories made by Yaro Abe all linked by the theme of ear cleaning. Unbeknownst to us, the practice of Mimi kaki or mimi souji 耳掃除 is quite common in Japan and represents way more than simply hygiene, as we are used to do it, many consider the act a pleas-urable, comforting experience that embodies love and trust. Many Japanese grew up having their ears cleaned by their mothers, and associate it with pleasant feelings of maternal closeness. It isn’t surprising then how it can represent deep feelings of love and closeness.
In specialized salon, it is done by resting on the lap of a beautiful girl and getting your ear cleaned out thanks to a mimikaki, a long, pointy tool with a curved end to scrap the excess ear wax, scrubbing and poking into your ear and then blowing softly into it. It is such a sensual and intimate experience that-some even go as far as to give special services to their client. These most Japanese ear-cleaning parlors cater more to men but some female oriented ones have also been appearing.

Mimikaki doesn’t embarrass itself from having complex characters, they are from all age and social situation, each with a singular trait, expressing themselves with all their awkwardness. Their simplicity is exactly what was needed to make them sweet and endearing from the get go and get attached to them, and even when being slightly delved upon we feel a real connection with what it has to tell us.

"When the bamboo stick touched the inside of my ear, it was as if the edge of a well filed nail came to tickle in the midst of two fingers. I shivered while exhilarating goosebumps came across my whole body"

Mimikaki’s core is also a deep eroticism, one that is never vulgar but delicate and organic. Searching for a particular ecstasy, these people wander around the streets in search of someone able to satiate their desires. Thankfully, the rousing and sensual Shizue is there for them. Its head rested on the lap of Shizue, the client abandons itself to this young woman. One ear and then the other. Gentle yet meticulous gestures. Her tight breath flowing gently into the now smooth ear canal as a rejuvenating wind. With her high dexterity she manages to procure all her clients out of body sensations, often or-gasmic in nature, expressed by suprasensory illusions and allow them to take a new turn in their life. An ode to the body sensation and strong bodily sensitivity.

Behind its apparent simplicity and clumsy drawings, it reveals itself to be a really unique and precisely crafted work. Sometimes reduced to a few lines on a white background, its essence is very minimalisitic. Yaro Abe draws playfully with the representation of hands and the internal ear and his composition al-lows us to wander through the pages at a peaceful rhythm.

Mimikaki marks the first work in the career of Yaro Abe, the first chapter was written when he was 41 years old in 2004 and the last one dates from 2010. It is explained by the fact that it was cancelled after a few chapters, Yaro Abe instead created Shinya Shokudou and released some other mimikaki chapters in this timeframe. I believe starting writing comics this late and with no background in it allowed him to bring a certain mature sensibility and develop a unique, out of the norm style that fits completely the atmosphere of the manga.

Mod Note: This review was initially posted for the one-shot, Chico, and was subsequently merged into Nejishiki.

[Story]
It doesn't have, or, it might be a day, and then weeks later. I didn't really saw the time line, or something it would guide me through. It just the little sudden events that are shown.

[Art]
Its not fine, the characters doesn't seem to have been drew with effort... Except for the little bird I guess...

[Character]
It's really short, and because of that they cant really show the true face of the characters, but they tried, and it sucked, they make you say:
"...o...ok? why is this here? this doesn't have anything to do with anything else"

[Enjoyment]
Its kind of okay at first, it goes really nice, until the middle. It really goes and goes more to:
"Huh?"
And then, what it makes it go to the drain its the end, I don't know why the ººº they did that. Horrible ending.

[Overall]
It might have been better, but like I said, the ending makes it really bad. But read it, so you can say: "Hey, I've read 'chico'"

This is a slice-of-life about a poor couple in an arranged marriage who slowly fall in love with each other.

Normally, I'm a sucker for that kind of plot. And this one is told with quite a lot of charm. The woman is care-free and extremely likable. The artwork is a little sketchy at times, but adds a lot of charm. The plot is told across a series of very short stories, each of which have some central joke or revelation about the characters, and it's a lot of fun.

But...

The man is such a complete jerk. He gets fired repeatedly for incompetence. He constantly falls for gambling and "get-rich-quick" schemes. He regularly insults is wife. He hits on every pretty girl he sees, including his sister-in-law and often in his wife's presence, and at one point it's implied that he cheats on her.

How can I recommend a manga where one of the two main characters--who I'm supposed to be rooting for!--is such a horrible human being? 6/10

I'm always in search of good romance manga and I was really happy when I found this one. It's a very short but sweet manga that has some good plot twists and character development despite the fact that it is so short.

The only real problem with this manga is that it's so short. It's a great quick read but it leaves you wanting to know exactly how the relationship between the characters develops beyond the end of the manga. I personally would have loved to read more about what hardships they faced and how they managed to overcome them.

That being said, everything else about this manga is great. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantic stories.

I wasn't planning on doing a review of this manga but when I saw earlier today that Kanojo mo Kanojo was getting an anime adaptation in 2021, I jumped on MyAnimeList.
I really hate how these kind of mangas can be adapted so easily. The manga literally started on March 2020, it just took 6 months and 35 chapters to get an anime. Damn.

Bear in my mind, I don't actually dislike harem, or just romcom in general, even if they are kinda bad, I just need some enjoyment to read it casually when a new chapter comes out, or at least a good waifu to cheer for. There's nothing to like in Kanojo mo Kanojo in my opinion, literally nothing. I don't know why I needed 23 chapters to drop this massive disgusting manga.

All the characters are obviously generics but they all feel so empty. The MC is just a dumb screaming person, all the girls are nowhere near interesting.

Harem manga is nothing new, a lot of them are at least decent to read. If you really are a big fan of the genre, maybe you will like this one but if it's not your damn dream, you're just gonna hate this one.

Just don't read it.

[THIS REVIEW CONTAINS VERY MILD SPOILER]

First off, to give you a quick summary, I pretty much enjoy this manga overall, but definitely not the opening. Right from the first chapter, you can see it doesn’t have a good hook. Things even slowed down for the next 3 or 4 chapters, but I believe this buildup is necessary for the story to take off later. If you stick to around 25 chapters and you still don't like it, I say drop it. My overall enjoyment: 8.8/10 (Fun read). Re-reading value: 6/10. (Suspense is what keeps this manga good, by re-reading you've known all the details). Anyway, here's my detailed review:

1/Opening: 7.5/10: Can be a little misleading. Without reading the genres or seeing the cover first, you would think this is a basketball romance manga after several pages, and I don’t blame you. However, toward the second half of the first chapter, you will realize that uh oh, things are getting tense! However, this opening is cliche at best, with monsters appear and kill everyone, seems like a scene taken straight out of Godzilla
Not only is the opening not hooking, but it also drags on for a little while. This has both pluses and minuses. On one side, it is necessary to depict the terror and ignorance of the survivors of the situation, of what is going on, and their quest to gather forces. On the other, 75% of the first 5 chapters is just monsters destroying building, after a while it gets repetitive, which might lead to high rates of dropping (Remember, the first few chapters are crucial as to whether a reader drops a manga or not). Furthermore, the premise of the manga is not stated explicitly until many many more chapters: what are these creatures, where did they come from, how to stop them, etc. If you stay with it, it could be rewarding though.

2/Plot: 8.8/10: It is primarily a survivor manga. Thus, it shares many characteristics with the likes of Gantz, but it also has a few uniqueness.
Similarities include: the suspense, the killing of characters, and several internal conflicts, which give way to character development.
Differences include: The characters don’t pick up information and intelligence as they progress in the game. In Gantz, the players have to find out for themselves the functions of the armor, how to win, etc., in Tenkuu Shinpan, the players have to explore the functions of the masks, and learn about the powers of the “Close ones to God” ALONG the way, which makes for an interesting “adventure,” so to speak. In Hakaijuu, the characters just run and fight, not until VERY later on did everything get laid out ALL AT ONCE, BY AN AUTHORITY, which I find not as fun.
Pros:
+ The fact that it kept you in the dark for a really REALLY long time. It gives the readers the feeling of actually being the manga characters: fear, ignorance of what’s going on, etc.
+ It gives you a rainbow-after-the-storm vibe, you know, all the couples take off and the happy-feel-good motif. However, to be honest, it is not really detailed. I’m ambivalent about this. (more under character development)
+ The most prominent feature of this manga is the 3 “breaks,” or “intersections.” If you have read Kamisama no Iutoori parts 1&2, or 20th Century Boys, or Code Geass Parts 1&2, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The story temporarily stops with a cliffhanger, and goes on to depict a whole other frontier, with new characters and everything (Code Geass). Or it ends with a “Great Battle,” and doesn’t show the aftermath, but rather flashes forward to what happens after it (20th Century Boys). It is not until very later that these 2 “seemingly parallel” theaters converge, and both sides start trading information, and what happened is actually revealed. This is extremely satisfying to me for some reasons. Not the best way to put it, I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ll get it when you read it. All the mangas I reference have 1 of these, this manga has 3!!! All of which are well crafted, which shot this manga way up in my list.
My dislikes:
+ 50% of the mangas is just the author showing off his drawing skills of monsters and buildings. It is beautiful, but after a while it gets really repetitive and boring.
+ The author uses the same motif over and over again: the characters get exponentially stronger, while the monsters get EVEN MORE exponentially stronger. Imagine Dragon Ball Z. The difference between SS4 Goku and Goku is achieved in 500 chapters. Now shorten it by 15 times! You get this manga and its progression of power. Thank God he doesn't use the power of hope and friendship!
+ The author recycles portrayal of characters (more under art)
+ Mediocre re-reading quality. It is a fun ride, but it’s definitely not half as exhilarating as the first time, since you know all the “breaks.” Cherish your first time, fellas.

3/Art: 8.5/10: the art is good from the beginning. The building and every monster is drawn very detailed (although the monsters can be a jumbled mess and indistinguishable sometimes). Most impressive are the armors and technology. Looking dope as hell! However, what I hate most is that the author recycles his portrayal: he draws immediate family members exactly identical (mom looks exactly like daughter, dad looks exactly like son). This is the biggest turn-off for me. At least change something yo!

4/Character development: 6.5/10: The biggest disappointment for me. This story features very limited character development, even for the protagonists. While other survival mangas focus on the change in personalities of characters after facing death, this one focuses too much on fighting and action. The author should have cut down on his monsters and build more onto his characters. The romance develops very subtly, it’s just like “boom, we’ve been together since day 1 after so many battles, so I guess I’ve fallen in love with you at some point.” There’s very few moments of introspection, you know, when the characters just stop to realize and reflect on the journey and their feelings and all. You see none of that here. Also, in other survival mangas, the MC usually man ups and resolves to fight when something tragic happens to him (love interest dies, friend dies, shame of not being able to protect anyone, blah blah). In this manga, however, the guy just become totally badass overnight. Biggest turnoff for me so far. In short, you don’t see the roads (moments of introspection, shocking deaths), you only see the destination (couples just take off, MC just become super brave overnight).

5/Suspense, thriller, and buildup: 9/10. Extremely good due to the fact that we are kept totally in the dark. We ask ourselves wtf is going on. The battles are extravagant, and I usually get a Star Wars vibe at the big battles!

6/Ending: 8.5/10: This is not a great ending or an ok one, it’s somewhere in the middle. High in the spectrum. The finale has a big twist which I really like. I won’t spoil it. It also sees a big change in a character, but to some it may be entirely bullshit and cliche and plot armor, but again I really enjoy. Overall, as a Shounen, it is obvious that a happy ending is expected. It satisfies the typical ending and ends on a high note, giving its readers a feel-good vibes. It provides proper closure, as well as the “look forward to the future” and the “people marry, live happily ever after,” and it does so in a not so cheesy way, but a lighthearted way which leaves me feeling kinda bittersweet (I guess?).

Note:
+ If you finish this series, and are crazy about it, you can always shoot me a message and have a friend to discuss it over with! I love this manga but (somehow) it is not popular, so the need to discuss it off my chest is real!
+ There is no full English scanlations of this series so far as I’m concerned. I read this in my native tongue, which is Vietnamese, in case you were wondering how I managed to finish this.

I really like this mangaka and this story was alright. Admittedly it's currently a one-shot although another part of this story can be found in an ongoing compilation entitled, Until I fall in love (Koi Ni Naru Ma De), the alternate name is Kimi machi bus and it is the fourth story in this ongoing.

The basic premise of the story is that the two leads of the story have crushes on each other but neither knows the other one has a crush until finally they both make a resolve to make a move, the male is first and the girl is second. In this story the mangaka focuses a lot more on the lead male so much of this is from his perspective. This is then rectified in the complimentary story, Koi Ni Naru Ma De, where we see the story develop from the lead girls perspective. The story is basically how Katagiri, the lead male starts to basically stalk the girl he's interested in at a bus stop. They are kept apart mainly because of their status'. Katagiri goes to a rather "average" school with hooligans and Kae (the lead female) goes to a private all girls school. We're looking at Katagiri's shyness and stalker-tendencies to get the girl he likes.

The story is very short, very simple, below average and I would say in totality fair. If you have a hunkering for some manga-lite work with not too much complexity or even much characterization but infantile first romances; then this is definitely something you'd want to read. I did happen to like the art a great deal however and that helped the story along.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I actually don't remember what brought me to this series, but if I had the opportunity to tell myself to not waste my time on this Manga, I would.

The premise of Reiroukan Kenzai Nariya is genuinely a good one. Simple but charming in a way that only the Japanese seem to nail consistently. The artwork immediately reminded me of 70s era Manga and Anime, which the mangaka Tomi Akihito deserves full props for.

However, that is all the props he and this Manga deserve. The story is awful because it decides, without warning or reason, to dive-bomb right into the ground. In chapter 9, Mikoto becomes completely infatuated with Genta (the main character), and begins sneaking into his bedroom to sleep beside him. Toyama (Genta's roommate) and Midori (Mikoto's friend) find out and catch her, forcing her to admit that she's in love with Genta. Genta then kisses her…and there the Manga effectively ends.

The reason why is Genta already has a girlfriend, thus him kissing Mikoto means he's cheating on her. So naturally, the following chapter has Genta, in an absurdly over the top and emotionless manner, break up with his girlfriend, Ayano; a very nice and respectable young woman. And for the record, by "over the top", I mean samurai imagery and demonic aura. This quickly moves onto Genta and Mikoto moving out of Reiroukan, meeting their respective families, getting engaged, and moving into their own apartment together. Ayano is never mentioned, and Genta's family seem to have no idea that she ever existed.

This is so emotionless and tasteless, that I was left speechless after reading it. I don't know if it was Akihito's plan for Genta and Mikoto to get together down the line, but from what was presented, Genta is the clear villain, and a rather gross person. This isn't a total surprise as the other couple in the series, Suzu and her underage(?) boyfriend, Hiroto, who's a creepy nerd and a student she's tutoring, is also out of the blue, hollow, and quite creepy.

I'm fully aware that when series fail to gain enough of a readership and they get the axe, that mangaka are given only a few chapters to wrap their story up. I'm equally aware that it's impossible to do it in any form that can satisfy both the creator and the readers. But this is SO terrible, that I wonder how much planning Akihito put into it before submitting the first draft to his editor or the editor-in-chief.

A small and inconsequential series it may be, but nevertheless deserves to be reviewed and rated properly. And since it was outrageously rated a 7 out of 10 on this website, it tipped me over the edge and speared me to write this review. 2/10 is all that it gets. There are plenty of other series to read, so don't waste your lunch break on this one.