Hoankan Evans no Uso: Dead or Love
Lies of the Sheriff Evans: Dead or Love

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Honkan Evans no Uso is one of the best philosophical manga I've ever seen. Believe me, if you read this, you will gain some life knowledge for you to apply in real life.

1. Story: 9
You have this MC, a sheriff name Evans who has a knowledge of a real man which he learned from his Papa. He lives in a wild west era. He struggles to find love, and want to be popular with girls. No girls can match his manliness. His struggle makes the story is a top tier. He's basically just a sad man.

2. Art: 9
The art matched the story, which ... is a romcom in a wild west. the character styles are also on point. I can't say much but I can guarantee you that you can fall in love with the main characters with their appearance only. Bear in mind that this is not an Ecchii manga (it is not for you if you seek that genre).

3. Character: 10
All main characters are likable, no exception, even the bad guys. I can say that it is nicely written.

4. Enjoyment: 10
Well, if there's a chapter update. I will immediately read it, no delay whatsoever. In conclusion, I enjoy it a lot.

5. Overall: 9
I don't like this manga, I love it.

Sheriff Evans' Lies is an hilarious romantic comedy set in the Wild West where we follow Elmore Evans, a sheriff who everyones loves and respects, the terror of the criminals... and that only became a sheriff because that supposedly would make him become popular with the girls.

Very soon we get introduced to Oakley, the main girl and romantic interest of the story. She's a bounty hunter too pure for this world who likes Evans (a feeling he shares for her), but since they are considered rivals by the other, and most importantly, both are completely clueless about love, they just fail hard in their romantic ... adventures, this leads to lots of funny moments that never fail to deliver laughs.

The format so far is episodic, and features Evans (and Oakley most of the time) in his daily work as sheriff, either trying to capture criminals, patrolling, or just doing stuff on his office, always leading to really funny situations between the characters.

This manga also has a narrator who explains some of their internal thoughts
and adds quite some comedy, delivering at times some lines to mock the denseness and failures of the characters. There is also Evans's awesome father, who appears in his memories to deliver very interesting life words that never fail to make Evans look incredibly cool, but ultimately completely fail in the uses for romantic purposes.

I recommend to give a try to this manga if you're looking for a romantic comedy with lovable characters and lots of laughs.

Hoankan Evans no Uso is one of those comedy manga that mostly has one joke, which is the two protagonists are romantically attracted to each other but over the top clueless about what to do about this, and constantly misunderstanding each other in ridiculous ways. This one joke though, the writer manages to consistently be creative and funny with, so it never gets old. If you find the joke funny, you'll love this manga. If you don't, then don't bother to read it.

I gave the art a seven because while the scenery and characters are clean and consistent with appealing and varied character designs, ... it boggles my mind how an artist this generally decent who sets his manga in the Old West can be so uniquely and abysmally bad at drawing horses. It seems like in every panel where horses appear their legs bend in new, horrifying ways, and it's painfully obvious the artist hardly bothers to even use a reference despite their obvious lack of ability at drawing them. The one time they did, you could tell the picture only contained the horse's head and neck, because the rest was still a horrifying jumble of limbs.

One other oddity was that Sheriff Evan's house is shown to have a secret basement even though the exterior of the house is shown to be on stilts(?) While normally such an obvious inconsistency would irk me, I suppose the author chose to overlook it because it's a comedy manga.

In the end, because it's a manga that's not at all taking itself seriously, and does the one thing it's trying to do really well, so any such criticisms don't really detract from the whole.

He wants a 'Yee' to his 'Haw', but he keeps on getting the 'Hell' to the 'Naw'.

In a time when the strong made the rules,
in the wild west,
there once lived a Sheriff who lived by the bullet,
that couldn't invite a single woman to the ballet.

The story is plain and simple.
- The Sheriff wants a woman,
- he makes a move,
... - but there's already a conflict around her,
- he reminisces on his father's wisdom,
- he solves the conflict,
- but he loses the woman.
"He wins the battle but loses the war", yes.

The plot is grounded in this formulaic technique, which allows it to explore various scenarios. Conflicts range from "infiltrating enemy bases and train chases" to "asking for dates and buying/hiding porn." And like with most episodic stories, the characters are what make this manga enjoyable. There are as many characters as there are pages, so let's focus on the key ones.

"Elmore Evans"
Our main character. He spent his entire infancy and adolescence learning the art of gunplay from his father in order to become a lady-killer. While he has no bitches, he does have bullets in his gun and expertise in his hands. He's rumored to be the finest gunslinger in the wild west, but that reputation is causing him all kinds of problems in his love life. Everyone thinks he's a 'sigma male', yet his sigma ends with his gun.

"Phoebe Oakley"
A bounty hunter and Evans' childhood rival. She and Evans are both birds of a feather. Both are well-known, the best in town, and have no expertise in romance but act the part. More than half of the manga centers around these two, who clearly have feelings for each other but are too hesitant to declare it due to their rivalry.

"Kurt Evans"
A former sheriff. When it comes to the world of gunslinging and the art of charming ladies, he represents wisdom for Evans. Kind of a womanizer. But, unlike Elmore, he actually gets from bitcheS. He's basically a walking encyclopedia of "How to be cool and get bitches," the one father/uncle that many guys wished they had when they were younger. Kurt even left his family and became a nameless gunslinger to live by the 'Rule of Cool' code after making Elmore a great sheriff.

"The Narrator"
Yes, the narrator is omniscient throughout the manga. If it weren't for the narrator's repeated quips and comments during character monologues, the manga would be half as funny. As the manga unfolds, the narrator becomes increasingly important.
The artwork is rather good. It isn't as good or as realistic as Gon. However, it performs its job well, communicating character emotions with a pretty typical background effort. There's a fair amount of gun action here and there, and that's it.

The story follows this old-school approach to dealing with romance, as in there's an admirable cheesiness in the way it treats its subject matter. While it is pretty corny and dumb, there are some surprisingly valuable moments every now and then.
The protagonist represents the hopelessness of many males regarding their love life. He follows the wisdom his father paved for him, he fails, but he takes another shot as you dive into the next chapter. He fails again but he's never hopeless about what he did but is focused on what's in front of him, a lady wide and open, and whatever it takes he takes the shot.

The story, however, suffers from what every episodic (most slice-of-life) story suffers. Progress.
One thing that the episodic format achieves is to show that even living a 'normal' life, progress can still be achieved, that's how life works and how many of us live.
This manga is pretty light-hearted but that shouldn't be an excuse for a lack of progress. Nearly 150 chapters have passed by, and we've yet to see a change in behavior or development in characters and are just fooling around with misunderstandings. What's frustrating is that we the reader, are the only ones who will be suffering from their foolishness, when they just live their lives like normal. The characters don't grow either, it's like they took the "Past in the Past" quote way too literally.
Another technical problem is the over-interference of the narrator. Sometimes the narrator just explains what we've seen, the situations are hardly complicated to do that so it's just an unnecessary comment that takes excess time to read.
And unfortunately, the translation is not done yet. There are currently more than 90 chapters that need to be translated and I can't find any English-translated volumes to buy online (there seems to be a Korean translation of vol 1 though if that helps anybody).

Who should read this?
It's the wild west, and while not completely accurate, it does have those vibes. So read it if that interests you.
Or, if you're a fan of dumb romCOM, or 'clearly in love but are not realizing it' love stories, then try this.

Sheriff Evans' Lies is a romantic comedy set in the Wild West. The protagonist, Sheriff Evans, is a fearsome and skilled sheriff who only chose his job because he thought it would make him popular with women.

His "rival", a bounty hunter named Oakley, actually has a deep seated love for Evans. Evans also has a crush on her but they are both too proud to confess their love.

Every episode of this anime revolves around Evans and Oakley dealing with outlaws or other problems while stumbling through romance (as neither of them are skilled in love). It's a simple formula, but very well executed. The comedic ... writing is top notch and in many ways i'd compare it to the writing from Love Is War (which is another top notch romcom).

If you want a simple romcom (with heavy emphasis on humor) then this manga is definitely worth a read. I give it a solid 8.

Story: 7

Hoankan Evans no Uso: Dead or Love or Sheriff Evans' Lies follows a semi episodic format with most conflicts lasting 1-3 chapters each with many being one off episodes that do not impact the actual progression of the story. Some do make come backs or contribute to a story over all, but that isnt the point. The real point is that each arch is really funny, and that they are short, easily consumable and well paced. No arch feels too short or too long, they are just that right amount to make a premise, follow it up and deliver the punch line.

Character: 8

The ... titular Sheriff Evans is an absolutely hilarious character through his dead pan expression being belayed by his excessive need to feel superior and look cool. His dynamic thoughts and constant worrying is an excellent foil to the supporting cast who generally are oblivious to his true nature and view him as a hard ass sheriff who gets the job done. This dichotomy allows everyone to feel really interesting as they each take different impressions of the sheriff which he in turn will likley completely misunderstand which then will make comedic gold.

Enjoyment: 8

This series handles its comedy well, and its world with a surprsing amount of accuracy to its inspirations, that being the classic spaghetti westerns of the united states. And as a big fan of western narratives, I can say that this is the best parody ive seen of that era, from the subversion of classic stereotypes like the noble sheriff, or the femme fatal to re-imagining of classic characters, this series is a great love letter to those classic stories. It even handles romance in a way that is quite enjoyable, as it is used as a means to further engage in comedy instead as the result of said comedy.

Overall: 8

if you love a good comedy, great characters, and solid writing in an easily consumable form then please, you owe it to yourself to read this.

(Currently 67 chapters are out, 63 if you dont count the extras)

Story: 8
This is a manga that focuses mostly on comedy and it happens through episodic plots or plots that last 3-4 chapters. And it works. Since the story is about a bounty hunter and a sheriff, short episodes of them catching bad guys really works for this manga, hence the score being an eight. This manga is very, very, VERY funny and witty at times. It knows its not a serious manga and uses that o its advantage. It creates semi-ridiculous situations (though not tooo ridiculous that it becomes off-putting) and comments upon them

Art: ... 7
The art is pretty good, pleasing to the eye, suits the characters and fits in with the whole western-cowboy atmosphere. It is very clean and sharp. Its not too extraordinary or special but it is prettyy good. Its not a ten as it is not absolutely fantastic and not the main focus of the manga, but it suits the manga very much. Plus, there is always room for improvement.

Characters: 10
Possibly the greatest part of this manga. They are all unique, lovable and of course hilarious. We have our sheriff Evan, who keeps his emotions to a minimum and shows his feelings through very little things, but since we are often told what is thinking, we find him 10x funnier, since his face do NOT represent his inner thoughts at all, except when he tries to look cool (which is all the time). Then we have our second protagonist, who we are introduced to in like the 3rd chapter, Phoebe Oakley the romantic interest)/ Im not gonna go into her personality too much, but ill just say that she is funny unique nd a great match for our protagonist. Now, one of the best things about this manga is the fact that the narrator is also a character. He always comments on the sometimes ridiculous situations with the funniest lines and lets us know what the protagonists are thinking. The father is also a major character who offers his hilarious advice and intake on life throughout the series.
Even the minor and secondary characters are unique, funny and add to the story.

Enjoyment: 10
As you can probably tell im really enjoying this manga. It is such a fun read. It brings out lots of laughs and smiles.

Overall: 10
Would recommend to anyone

"I'd be lying if I said I ain't scared, but in this moment (when I want to show off to you), I can be brave."

Hoankan Evans no Uso is a brilliant romcom manga set in the old west, and is the funniest manga I have read to date. The manga does a fantastic job with giving the setting the right atmosphere while keeping humor normally more seen in Japanese romcom anime. However that's not to say it's just like any other romcom, the humor has much of its own unique spins to it. Early on I was worried that it would get repetitive, however ... as I'm now far enough along I can safely say it does not get stale or repetitive. It keeps a nice lighthearted tone with writing techniques for humor I have not seen done in manga, many inner monologues and writing choices and even writer comments all add to the humor creating a very different experience than I'm most used to. I have seen narrator be used for a comedic effect before but this is the first time I believe I've actually seen it done well. The writing also does a great job in showing misunderstandings as they are happening. The story may not be the main focus but the atmosphere of the setting and comedy are brilliant.

Speaking of the atmosphere, the art is outstanding and absolutely fitting for an old western. Characters all look nice and the backgrounds look good. The way it sets the atmosphere though is fantastic, it really does feel like an old western with a romcom spin.

The characters have all been fantastic as well. All the side characters add more to the fun and comedy, but the 3 leads including Evans' father are extremely fun to see and are the most developed. Evans is an upright man that does everything he does to follow his father's teachings and be popular with women. His father is frequently shown in flashbacks as Evans remembers his advice and it's applied to the story for both reasons for how Evans acts and more comedic effect. The best part about all the advice given by Evans' father is how none of it breaks suspension of disbelief. It all sounds like something a womanizing gunslinger might say. The third lead isn't introduced until a few chapters in but is incredibly cute and tough and another great character for this manga.

I have to say I wasn't expecting this manga to completely blow me away, but it did. The humor, writing style, characters, and art are all amazing and it's an absolute joy to read.