Shinrin Ouja Moriking
Moriking

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I initially found this manga as free chapter updates on the Viz Media app and just finished rereading it for a MAL challenge stack. I intend to buy the collection of digital volumes at some point as well, as Moriking is a very light and fun read that I will probably want to revisit sometime.

It's not really story-driven, and in my opinion, it drags a bit at the end so maybe it should have been a little shorter. But all the same, it's goofy and I enjoy the premise ("hello, I am human-bug and I'll be living with you; others will want to fight me, ... don't worry about it") and the characters a lot.

I never understood this reoccurring thing I'm finding in anime/manga/games from Japan where characters have a hobby of collecting insects and possibly pitting them against each other, as it's apparently just a hobby common among young children?! But my cultural ignorance in this area aside, it really is a short, funny series that has all the "summer vibes" neatly packaged in a few volumes. It's simple running gags for a comedy manga and I'm happy to have found it. No masterpiece, but just... chill, anthropomorphic bugs.

Moriking was a manga I found at chapter 1 on the shounen jump app when it came out and read it weekly from chapter 1 to I think 35( the last chapter). it wasn't terrible but if i had to read more than 1 chapter a week i dont think I would have kept reading, the story was sorta interesting because it was pretty unusual and it was kinda funny at times but also pretty boring at other parts. I wouldn't have read this more than once a week so if you are thinking of reading from chapter 1 until the end i can't recommend ... this manga.

‘Moriking’, the story of a bug which evolves to a humanlike form and then fights for world peace… Sounds hilarious, and the first chapters were really good comedy, but then the fire nation… ehm, I mean: then it got more chapters than “needed”...

- Story (3/10):
I don’t like the concept that a comedy manga doesn’t or just slightly need a main story/goal, they are mostly not successful enough either. However, there are exceptions like ‘Gintama’ which goes full comedy, but I prefer a much better storytelling and deepness like in ‘Bakuman’. Sadly, ‘Moriking’ is 98% the type of full comedy. You have a very weak redline, ... the choosing process of the forest king, however this is nothing more than just an almighty reason for every appearing new character or action. Human-bug X jumps in, he is one of the chosen bugs. X competes with our protagonist, it is a battle to choose the king. Human-bug Y appears, she is one of the chosen bugs. Y challenges Moriking (the main character, by the way), it is a battle to choose who is worthy to be a king… And this goes on in the whole manga…
Meanwhile this whole story’s setting is one repeating joke. Shouta (the little boy who raised Moriking) is totally amazed by his bug’s actions, and later everyone too, while his big sister Shouko totally freaks out that nobody cares that Moriking is a bug… And this happens in every chapter...
Let’s not compare this to ‘Gintama’ (that would be demolishing), but another (at the time of writing 25 chapters long) fresh comedy manga, ‘Me & Roboco’. In every chapter you get a new parody or funny story. Sometimes using things from previous chapters, for a better build up humor. So it’s not the same joke again and again, and even if it is, it evolved to a much better one. And all this is missing in ‘Moriking’.
One thing to mention, even if the whole manga is like repeating the first chapter, nearing the end it turns to a… “battle” (?) manga. A really ridiculous fighting tournament, with some good references to ‘Dragon Ball’ or ‘Bleach’ (still with looping the same joke). It was a bit refreshing, but altogether not good enough.

- Art (4/10):
Now you may think: “That doesn’t sound good… But maybe the art is good.” Let’s say it like that, at least it isn’t bad. The designs are nice and cool, some are more unique, some feel a bit copy & paste. Toning, background and shadowing are all okay. Altogether you would say, it perhaps isn’t memorable, which is either positive nor negative, simply average. However, if I try to remember one character it has only this one expression on its face. Moriking always looks calm and cool, Shouta friendly and amazed, and Shouko shocked. It’s like everyone has just one certain feeling.
In addition, as for me and other people who don’t have much knowledge of insects, the variety of them are really limited. For example, you get a handful of beetle-like insects, but no spiders (which isn’t an insect, I know), flies or mosquitos, which are the most basic insects, in my opinion. At least, you get a butterfly and a hornet.

- Characters (3/10):
So, the story/jokes are repeating, art is forgettable, but at least the characters are special! NOT! Literally every rival is the same. He/she wants to be the king and rule over the world, but after fighting against Moriking they are suddenly friends. Conflicts are getting just swept under the carpet. No development of depth of our main characters either, they are only there to do the same thing, the same joke with the same expression…
You may say: “Come on man! That is a simple comedy manga, it doesn’t need such things.” I doubt that. For example, take the first 30-40 chapters of ‘Gintama’, its characters all have a backstory, development, different habits and actions. You could tell so many things of just one character and it would be more than altogether in ‘Moriking’. And this kind of uniqueness makes it to such a great comedy manga, saying this even if I don’t like ‘Gintama’ that much. I can still appreciate it. (Same goes to ‘Me & Roboco’ in a weaker version).
So, yes, not just the story has to develop, but also the characters for the sake of a very good comedy. Or in the end it doesn’t even matter (pun intended).

- Enjoyment (4/10):
I must say, it was cancelled/ended before it could have gone even worse… After a good start and nearing the final, it really felt repeating and boring. Summing up, the first half was okay or sometimes good. In the second half it destroys its own humor by looping it to the death and you get used to it. However, it had 1-2 highlights even at the end, which saved it to a 4 out of 10.

- Overall (4/10):
Overall, at the beginning you get an okay/good comedy, but with more and more chapters it gets more and more boring. You will see how the creativeness flies away, just like if you would try catching a bug. So, at the end I give a weak 4 or a strong 3, as you want to interpret it.