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Apr 28, 2013 10:24 PM
#1
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THIS IS A MANGA ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING BEYOND THIS CHAPTER.
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Probably one of Kishimoto Masashi's best manga for me personally, I'd recommend it for anyone interested.
Apr 28, 2013 11:02 PM
#2

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May 2012
1732
That was nice.

10/10
Apr 28, 2013 11:41 PM
#3

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Sep 2012
3613
Ehh... But that was so banal....
Apr 29, 2013 2:54 AM
#4
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May 2012
20
very awesome one shot :D!
Apr 29, 2013 3:12 AM
#5

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26710
Ending was pretty ambiguous about what happened to Mario, but hey I like those kind of endings.
Apr 29, 2013 4:43 AM
#6
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Mar 2012
1802
wasn't that bad but mario, that's like the worst name you could give to a manga, have fun looking for it online and in stores
Apr 29, 2013 9:26 AM
#7

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Feb 2012
5478
I wasn't blown away but it was rock solid, I would like to see more.


ReaperCreeper said:
Ending was pretty ambiguous about what happened to Mario, but hey I like those kind of endings.

Huh? He let her escape and thus he had to pay with his life.
ZhouApr 29, 2013 9:30 AM
Apr 29, 2013 11:08 AM
#8

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129188
What a badass woman with that Desert Eagle.

Kind of a violent and awkward one-shit although I did sort of enjoy it. Hope it will get serialized soon as a full series in the future.
Apr 29, 2013 2:07 PM
#9

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Aug 2011
29
It was sort of short of development on certain pages but overall it was nice !

So it's a 7.5/10 for me ! :)

And Saori is so badass !!! I so wish there was a heroine in Naruto like her ~!
Apr 29, 2013 5:31 PM
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1122
It was ok, nothing super awesome, his Bench one shot was better, I hope he comes up with something better cause this was just ok.
Hi
Apr 29, 2013 6:20 PM

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Nov 2010
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Best then naruto ... i hope he write something like mario when he end naruto
Apr 30, 2013 2:56 AM

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Zhou said:
I wasn't blown away but it was rock solid, I would like to see more.


ReaperCreeper said:
Ending was pretty ambiguous about what happened to Mario, but hey I like those kind of endings.

Huh? He let her escape and thus he had to pay with his life.

No proof of him actually dying though.
Apr 30, 2013 3:17 AM

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932
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.
Apr 30, 2013 9:12 AM
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Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.

I agree!
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it 'The Present'...
Apr 30, 2013 9:21 AM
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There are far better manga of the same genre.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it 'The Present'...
Apr 30, 2013 10:00 AM

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Apr 2013
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Disliked it. The universe is interisting, i think it has a great potential but the characters... Come on, Mario and Saori are cliches. Mario has no charisma and Saori, at the beginning she seems to be an interesting character, a real killer, but finally it's one of those girls who is soft inside but acting tough... Boring. To my mind, the romance wasn't good too... She doesn't care about your life, she has just done her job and you thank her for saving your life and offering her a precious item ? Definitely, i don't understand.
May 1, 2013 8:59 AM

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909
quite a simple story, overall a nice 8/10
May 2, 2013 1:21 PM
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Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.


It probably would've been a lot darker if he was able to publish the original but working for Jump so damn long's got him producing this, imo.

Naruto's crap and this wasn't even that great. Honestly, the sketch looked better than the final product, it sounded like it'd be cool when mentioned in the earlier Naruto volumes but this is what we got and I'm not too satisfied. It's just okay at best.
May 2, 2013 1:32 PM

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So full of betrayals! I like this side of Kishi. I wish he can incorporate more "dark" stuff in Naruto as well.
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May 3, 2013 5:27 PM

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"To be really frank, it feels nicer to masturbate with Washington's face on the banknotes!"
Kishimoto probably doesn't realize that Washington's face is on the one dollar bill.
"There's nothing as boring as a story about successful love."

-Me
May 5, 2013 9:27 AM

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Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.


Exactly I stopped reading after he started poking at U.S. gun culture.
May 5, 2013 9:56 AM

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RomanceDawn said:
Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.


Exactly I stopped reading after he started poking at U.S. gun culture.


Well Mario Get a serie, starts in June in Jump Square...
May 5, 2013 10:31 AM

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Mar 2013
145
I kinda liked the manga. and concerning the "gun culture", you guys must realize how much people get their info about other countries from the media right? I don't he's only "poking" at gun culture cause all of the movies and news reports you can even see on youtube from shootings at schools and etc. I just wished he didn't put it like all Americans were like that. :/

kingdomherast said:
"To be really frank, it feels nicer to masturbate with Washington's face on the banknotes!"
Kishimoto probably doesn't realize that Washington's face is on the one dollar bill.


No I think he knows. I think saying that was the point.
translation: "Saori your not even worth one dollar to me"

May 5, 2013 12:17 PM

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Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.


I was waiting for the haters to show up.

Please do tell what was so bad about this one-shot?
May 5, 2013 5:24 PM

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I thought that was...pretty bad. It's just super predictable. Mario will kill a girl for money, Saori hates men, oh surprise they take a liking to each other.

I don't like one shots for the reason that no believable relationship can be established in it for ME. I need time with characters and need to see actual character development. Not just to see a page of different crammed scenarios of them working together. Then he crammed the whole sentimental thing with the mother in there to squeeze a reason as to why Mario would take a liking to Saori, meh.

Meh. I have many more reasons as to why I didn't enjoy it but I'll just leave it at that. I personally did not enjoy it.
o genki desu ka
May 5, 2013 5:56 PM
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TheIMF said:
Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.


I was waiting for the haters to show up.

Please do tell what was so bad about this one-shot?

Having a low opinion on something that sucks is not hating. I don't hate this one-shot, I just don't think it's really any good. The dialogue wasn't convincing, the characters and story elements were clichéd - Saori's "development" especially was predictable and lazily-done.

I also agree with Arashi89: the edginess didn't come across as natural.
May 18, 2013 7:19 AM

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Officer-Kaoko said:
Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.

I agree!

I know right!
Hyuuga__Neji said:
Disliked it. The universe is interisting, i think it has a great potential but the characters... Come on, Mario and Saori are cliches. Mario has no charisma and Saori, at the beginning she seems to be an interesting character, a real killer, but finally it's one of those girls who is soft inside but acting tough... Boring. To my mind, the romance wasn't good too... She doesn't care about your life, she has just done her job and you thank her for saving your life and offering her a precious item ? Definitely, i don't understand.

Yes my thought exactly, and why exactly did he smiled halfway through the oneshot? Remind me too much of Naruto.. I actually liked it until halfway where he smiled, and it got downhill since then. Saori.. character with potential, was killed off by adding that she was raped by her father, and she.. cried??? What the? The art wasn't that good anyway, Kishi can't draw woman well, and he can't draw middle age man(?) or was I mistaken that Mario wasn't really a middle age man but a youngster?
Honobono Log - best slice of life short
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Jul 2, 2013 10:01 AM

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Serialization? Nice to hear.
I liked art, though Saori isn't well drawn but men's faces are memorable. At least there aren't any identical bishies or flat "naruto" faces.
Whatever it will be, nothing can be worse than continuation of Naruto saga.
Mar 1, 2014 11:35 PM

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Better than all of naruto
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Dec 3, 2014 5:17 AM

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Well... it was nice. Predictable, cliche, but nice.

I guess 4/5 is already more than enough.
HOW TO SAVE ANIME IN THREE SIMPLE STEPS

  1. To have Mars of Destruction, Skelter Heaven, and Pupa properly adapted in TV series form by Madhouse
  2. To have Inferno Cop properly adapted in TV series form by Bones, director: Urobuchi Gen
  3. An anime crossover of Mushishi x ARIA x Haibane Renmei.


Should even one of the above conditions cannot be done, anime is still at risk.
May 14, 2015 9:45 AM

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Turns out, there has been no serialization for this one-shot manga.

Seeing people's opinions, I am probably one of the few who actually like Kishimoto's art style for drawing female characters then.
Nov 19, 2015 2:03 AM
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Arashi89 said:
My god, this was Kishimoto going "look how edgy I can be!", isn't it? Yeah, he should stick to battle manga cause this is pretty bad.

Seriously, people using words such as edgy (or pretentious) have no better way to explain their thoughts huh. I'm not saying this was the best one shot ever, but using such words is just so vague.

As for Kishi can't draw females well...he even admits that he has the hardest time drawing females. But I think he does a good job, although it could be better.

Anyways, I enjoyed this one shot. I found Mario to be quite an interesting character, he has a laid-back attitude, it was also interesting to see people talking about him being a half-breed. I feel like he wasn't entirely afraid of death either, although he loves money. Betrayal in such a culture/"work field" isn't something surprising to Mario either, I liked how in the end he decided to let Saori go and was prepared to see his mother again (we don't really know if died though). I think he wasn't afraid of death because it's as he said to Ken, because he'll say goodbye to this "rotten world." Saori was also a good partner to him, even after cornering her, she saved Mario from Ken's bullet. I think that enough of a reason for Mario to let Saori go, in exchange for his own life. It felt like Mario had any specific reason to live except for money.
Feb 9, 2016 5:38 AM

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tingy said:

Seriously, people using words such as edgy (or pretentious) have no better way to explain their thoughts huh. I'm not saying this was the best one shot ever, but using such words is just so vague.


Edgy means edgy, and pretentious means pretentious. These are words with meaning, and they can convey an opinion.
Feb 9, 2016 8:15 PM
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Arashi89 said:
tingy said:

Seriously, people using words such as edgy (or pretentious) have no better way to explain their thoughts huh. I'm not saying this was the best one shot ever, but using such words is just so vague.


Edgy means edgy, and pretentious means pretentious. These are words with meaning, and they can convey an opinion.

True, and I have nothing against people having opinions of course. But what I meant is that those have now become buzzwords and they mean as much as "that was great!" or "that sucked." It's not necessary to explain your opinion either, I know that not everyone will either have the time or want to do that. I realize this also means I have double standards since I don't call out on those other type of posts. It just annoys me personally whenever I see either of those two words :)
Sep 5, 2016 7:52 AM
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tingy said:
Arashi89 said:


Edgy means edgy, and pretentious means pretentious. These are words with meaning, and they can convey an opinion.

True, and I have nothing against people having opinions of course. But what I meant is that those have now become buzzwords and they mean as much as "that was great!" or "that sucked." It's not necessary to explain your opinion either, I know that not everyone will either have the time or want to do that. I realize this also means I have double standards since I don't call out on those other type of posts. It just annoys me personally whenever I see either of those two words :)


Thank you. I hate those people who uses the word "edgy" just because it's popular now like lit or whatever.
May 26, 2017 4:02 AM

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Jan 2013
1220
Woah, actually a good one-shot! Way to go, Kishimoto! I knew it might be good because the cover looks awesome. ^-^
Sadly too short... This manga could be 'a thing'. 7/10 better than Karakuri imo

"Please stop talking about math when I'm eating."
Apr 10, 2018 12:06 PM

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Mar 2018
156
Well that was pretty garbage. I see this getting a lot of praise for being a 'good' one shot but the bar must be low if that's the case.

Recommend me some short Manga!

Sep 21, 2020 7:50 AM

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Nov 2013
2693
I liked it. I didn't see many of its twist and turn.
I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die.


Jul 16, 2022 1:40 AM

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9646
This was surprisingly very fucking good overall. Awesome One-Shot from Kishimoto. Underrated 7/10.

It's somewhat simple but very well executed. Two Hitmen, a Half-Japanese/Italian Man working with a Man-Hating Woman who doesn't speak.
The slow progress of their bond growing and opening up to each other and how their friend plotted a betrayal to kill the woman who got a framed bounty and steal the prize from the protagonist Mario. Only to fail in successfully killing the woman Saori and be killed by the protagonist Mario.

That framing may not be grandly extraordinary, but nonetheless it's a good twist.
Although, what I particularly love is the subtle relationship growth of the protagonist Mario and Saori; from her dark past somehow (for whatever reason) killing her foster parent at 13 years old, and he saving money as a hitmen in an attempt to save his mother from dying, of which he failed and continued to be a hitman.

The charm in their relationship is how they change.
His bravado cracking after she saves him through sniping an unexpected threat and thanking her for it while handing her his good luck charm, one half of his mother's earings- as a supersition to keep her alive. Which causes her to finally speak to him. Which took 4 years for Ken, their partner.
Later, in the moment where a Mob Boss wants to rape her which he's given money to leave them alone (while expecting her to kill him) is a interesting conflict, including the moment he comes back after hearing gunshots and wanting to reunite.
Except, he's given $500,000 to kill her- which as previously mentioned when they met, he's more for money over woman which stays true for the most part.

It's disappointing that he let her die after he confessed that he likes her and that she resembles his mother, but fortunately she survived and killed Ken.
I don't like the fact that he let her die, but it stays true to his character and how realistic it is to change.
Afterwards, he puts on the other earing on her, hoping to die and join his mother soon through guilt and exhaustion of living, but the epilogue states in writing that he lives on and that they found love, which would have been nice to see.

Thus, all around, I feel that this is a great One-Shot.
It'd be cool to see it expanded or know how it could have been as a manga, but oh well.
Even though Kishimoto occassionally has flaws and isn't always great in having everything "perfect", at his best, he has a talent for building complex characters and intriguing relationship/dynamics, with slick plots and good character designs and art.
Dec 23, 3:53 PM

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Jun 2008
5122
Expected him to go dattebayo! any moment.

Pretty cool, but too clichè and abrupt.

watching, waiting, commiserating
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