Hitman

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MANGAKA & EDITOR/ LOVE/ ECCHI/ LIFE


*Not in the same level as that of "Bakuman" for sure. (I will give my opinion about this at the very end)


This time, after finishing "Fuuka", a manga about singers and artists, Kouji san decides to create another new manga, "Hitman", about mangakas and editors that also mix with slices of life and ecchiness again (Kouji san's signatures).


Story: 6-9
... Nothing too fabulous if you read Kouji san's previous works.
The theme about mangaka and editors are always interesting since I get to learn about the manga industries' behind the scenes. Of course, just like his previous works, Kouji san will add some life problems for the characters to solve(hopefully no death again.. please) and love interests between the characters. If nothing goes wrong, this will be an 8 or 9. Yet, I give it a potential 6 or 7 because Kouji san doesn't always have proper endings for his works (sometimes they feel rushed).


Art: 10
One of the reasons I particularly enjoy about Kouji san is his drawing (for me, this is his strongest suit). The main females characters are on point >///< Ecchiness are mostly on point too (sorry to the ladies)... Aesthetically pleasing overall.


Character: 8
Nothing to fancy. Ryuunosuke wants to work hard to prove himself that he is a capable editor while Tsubasa wants to prove herself to be a successful mangaka. Along the way, love interests between them will be inevitable. Again... if nothing goes wrong, Tsubasa will beat any other women who have love interest toward Ryuunosuke. This will deserve a normal score of 8.


Enjoyment: 1-9
Ever since the Mangaka published " Kimi no Iru Machi", I have been reading his works weekly. So, I think I have generate a habit of following his works lol. If this goes normally, my enjoy rating will be at 9.
YETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, if anyone dies (for no good reason as if just to hit the climax), I will give this category a 1 or 0 (if possible).


Overall: 7-9
As a huge manga fan myself, I definitely love to read about this particular theme of mangas. Yet, everything about feels normal and doesn't feel "unique". That is why I give it a range of 7-9 as it is still kinda early to tell.


________________________________________________________________________________________

*
Before reading this manga, do not expect that this manga is close to the legendary status of "Bakuman". It is not that "Hitman" is bad. When you read "Bakuman", the strong sense of goals and the purity of love are just too hard to beat when you compare to the semi-sense of goals and ecchiness/love of "Hitman". Also, Bakuman offers more knowledge regarding behind the scenes (making it seems more "real" than the story of "Hitman").

I was compelled to write a review for this since only one review is written for it yet. SO after the controversy of "disaster-piece" Fuuka, Seo Kouji this time brings us the story behind the fabulous industry of Manga. As from the synopsis, the story is about a fresher editor for the Weekly Shounen Magazine, Ryuunosuke Kensaki and a newbie managaka, Tsubasa Takanashi (Ryuunosuke is her editor). Ryuu wants to make Tsubasa the number 1 author in all of Japan. The story you may think is very similar to the BAKUMAN but, this is from the editor's point of view and not solely the mangaka. ... So that's a fresh take on the concept. So before I go further let me tell you something:

"If you have read SEO's previous work and you love them, even the oneshots, trust me as a fellow SEO fan and a fan of KNIM and Suzuka, you are going to love this manga. Just trust me on this."

I will spoil more later not now. Now for the non-Seo fan or who have not yet read any of Seo's previous works. You guys are going to like the story for what it is but will not be able to fully appreciate the characters and so the overall enjoyment will be not be as fabulous as this piece of art actually is. SO MY RECOMENDATION WILL BE THAT BEFORE YOU READ HITMAN, YOU SHOULD COMPLETE SEO'S OTHER WORKS ESPECIALLY KIMI NO IRU MACHI, FUUKA AND SUZUKA. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO APPRECIATE IT JUST AS MUCH, TREAT IT MORE LIKE A SEQUEL TO FUUKA (THOUGH IT IS NOT). SO TAKE MY WORD GO READ THE OTHER WORKS FIRST BEFORE YOU ENTER THIS STORY AND GET FAMILIAR WITH SEO UNIVERSE

NOW FOR SEO FANS LET'S TALK ABOUT HITMAN SHALL WE?

Story:

The is story is not as fabulous. If you are familiar with Seo's works you guys know what I am talking about. But this time it is different from his other works. The signature Seo drama is taken down a notch and a more "cheerful" story is depicted? If I may describe in a single word. Still you will see typical Seo moments in the chapters. There is no NTR or drama at the level of KNIM (yet, I have to say this, you may never know cause it Seo we talking about). The Story : 7.5/10 (0.5 for unique perspective) Before going into spoiler for all the Seo fans: Just read the manga you will love, it has better characters and drama toned down a notch than previous works so don't worry.

Art:

Well it is Seo we are talking about. Only the best out there for his drawings. The art is fabulous with more details to characters then ever before. You have your signature ecchi illustrations which are just a treat to watch. You many criticize Seo's stories, but his artworks are just diamond. The Art: 10/10 (Wish I could give it a 11).


_______MINOR_________SPOILERS_______AFTER____THIS_______POINT____

(not related to plot but related to characters and non Seo fans can continue)




Characters:

This time around Seo has given up on your typical high-school character and has gone for the adult shounen character, Ryuunosuke Kensaki. Let me tell you this right away, He is a better character than any of Seo's previous works, even Kirishima (KNIM). Ryuu is a confident (little dumb) out-spoken guy who is kind and shy sometimes but unconsciously is very clever (not too much, though just tad bit). He is not a genius, he just knows how to come with ideas when a problems arises (similar to maybe, Kirishima), he just does not rely on others as often and comes up with own solutions.

The next character is your female lead, Tsubasa Takanashi, I will say this, she is the best female character yet by Seo. She is a self-motivated tsundere girl who wants to take challenges head on. She does not get depressed easily rather makes a comeback immediately with more dedication, unlike Seo's other girls who succumb to drama and makes things complicated. She is definitely my favourite so far.

There are other character's too who are your typical Seo characters. Other than Tsubasa you have 2 more girls added to Ryuu-harem (typical Seo harem) first is mangaka girl (Nonoka Shimakaze) who is a popular author at 18yrs of age and junior editor (Rena Shikishima) who is new to the company and joined 1 yr after Kenzaki and maybe a 3rd one (which is yet not set in stone), that is Amaya Shiori (that's right, Amaya from Kimi no Iru Machi is a supporting in this) and Ryuu is her substitute editor. If you guys remember from Kimi no she was a mangaka in that as well and so in this she is a successful mangaka who is managed by Ryuu's mentor Natsume (her full time editor).So there are 4 girls (Tsubasa, Nonoka, Shiori and Rena) in Ryuu harem as of chapter 45.

Then there are other supporting characters like Akira Natsume (Ryuu's mentor and senior editor), Kazutake Yagami (Ryuu's other unofficial mentor and senior editor), Hiroto Asama (Ryuu's rival and freshman editor) and others from the Manga department of Shounen Weekly Magazine including Mio Kawaguchi (Ryuu's college friend from different department in the same company who likes him) who will potentially be later introduced into Ryuu's harem (I know for a fact!).

Now the best part about the characters in Hitman is that all the other characters from Seo universe are having cameos in this. And not just as Easter Eggs but more. If you are a Seo fan you will be delighted to see the way Seo is handling the cameos. Especially characters from Kimi no Iru Machi who have made more cameos than ever before, not to spoil much. Even Blue Wells from Fuuka. SO if are Seo fan you will be delighted. Not to spoil any further. It is like The MCU of SEO fandom.

Overall the inherent main characters of Hitman are better than Seo's other works and cameos from previous works just make everything more satisfying to read. The characters : 9.5/10 (0.5 taken out for the typical Seo harem, nothing major)

Overall enjoyment: (no spoilers for non-Seo works' familiar people)

There are 2 ways for you to enjoy this story. First, is as a Seo fan and someone who has read his previous works. You will enjoy this too much. The nostalgia that this has in its cameos are just too precious and satisfying to read. For that reason alone you should give this a go. The story is good and fresh and drama is a bit tone downed.
Second, is as someone who is oblivious to Seo's works, I have to be blunt here, you guys have to go and read the previous works, treat this like a sequel more than a standalone series if you want to enjoy it more. Trust me. It is a good standalone series but it is a better sequel imo. The overall enjoyment : 10/10 (First situation), 7/10 (Seo oblivious people)

So, finally I would say this show is promising as of right now, the idea is still fresh but I can totally see this also going dragged on later (knowing Seo). So I hope he will not overdo any plot device and take drastic measures of NTR that he did in Fuuka. Overall I can see this series become better than other Seo's works. But that is still very early to say. Overall : 9.2/10 (It has potential)

**The next update on review - Between 80-90**

If you like this author's (Seo Kouji) previous works, you'll probably like this as well. Keep in mind though, there's far less drama and romance than before.

If you are like me, in the dislike/hate domain, then skip. Simple as that. Even if the first half seems interesting, it will go downhill like it always had.

When I first began reading it, it felt like some sort of satire, in a good way. There are major references to his previous books (including spoilers), and since the theme is about manga authors and editors, it sometimes felt like he was venting a bit through his characters, which was ... fun. The new characters are interesting, and the potential love triangle was promising to be entertaining, so everything was going pretty well...

...but then it nosedived. The final good moment was when the MC got a girlfriend, about halfway through. Here's what I didn't like:

1. The MC is just lucky. Everyone's going on about how he's got some special talent of an editor, but in reality he simply gets assigned to work with very talented authors, while all he does is shout "That's interesting!" or "No, it should be that way!" during their overview sessions. Sure, all his 5 authors experience different problems, while he's helping his partners overcome them. But his "talent" is never shown, so he ultimately maintains the image of an unskilled but lucky cliché-spewing good guy.

2. The characters are come-and-go. Some look like they've been forgotten by the author himself, as if he wasn't sure in which direction to take the story, so he introduced new characters and then abandoned them. In the first chapters there's a female acquaintance of MC's, and she shows up maybe 2-3 times during the whole 13 volumes. She has affection for the MC, but it's never expanded upon. The other guy is a talented new editor, with whom the MC is competing in the beginning. He later disappears for like 10 volumes. There are other "forgotten" characters, but their roles demanded so, e.g. MC's childhood friend, who helped his romance progress.

What I can't forgive though, is that the main characters are treated the same. The moment their distress ends, they are shoved away so that a new one could take their place. This leads to shallow characters, which mars the romantic aspect especially, since they are thrown out before their feelings can be properly shown.

There was a certain manga called "Blue Hearts" from the ReLife's author. That's how the episodic struggles should be done. None of the characters felt abandoned neither by the author nor the MC, even after their problems got resolved. Everyone was connected on a deeper level, and not through a get-together dinner every couple of volumes.

3. The romance is bad, particularly after MC gets a girlfriend. There's no proper rivalry, and he is either oblivious or indifferent towards the girls' feelings. There's also a rule that says the editor shouldn't be in a romantic relationship with their author, since it will create bias, which will destroy them or their work in the end. And how does the main couple get out of this predicament? Quite easily - they just keep it a secret and he continues to be an "excellent" editor. Great writing. There's also almost no romance after he gets a partner, only a couple of out of touch "comedic" transitions to them having sex, so that the reader still remembers they're a couple. There's no drama about this manga's romance, and it's not interesting in the slightest. Some characters' feelings towards the MC never get fleshed out and are forgotten by the author and the characters themselves (how convenient).

4. The ending is abrupt and doesn't contribute to anything. It's like "Our work isn't done! We will strive for further heights!" and such. It's all MC's fault by the way. His ambitions got to his head.

Oh, and, do you also hate how heroines with unreciprocated love get random boyfriends so that "everyone's happy"? Well, you're not in luck, since it's here as well! And the best thing? One of the heroines talks about how she doesn't want to get a random boyfriend in the last chapter and still gets one! Thanks as always, Mr. Seo! Peak romance! Peak writing! Acta est fabula, plaudite!

A waste of time. Every time I read the author's works, I hope that they are better than the previous ones, and I always get disappointed. Will I read "Megami no Cafe Terrace"? Yep, I'll probably burn myself for the umpteenth time, but I still continue to hope that one day Seo Kouji will produce something truly great.