Ayakashi Triangle

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Kentarou san?
〃(♡▽♡〃) EEEECCCHIIII

Gender Bender?
Doesn’t Matter!

Ayakashi?
OH YES BABY! You mean potential creatures that will have tentacles or liquids that melt clothes. OWO


... Story & Characters: 6/10 (Story isn’t the key reason I read Kentarou’s work. As long as it has “females” in the story, this is a standard 6. Be warned though, the story is gonna digress. But, who cares? :P)
Art: 20/10 (Those Curves. Oh Babyyyyyyyyy~~ I AM COMINGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!. )
Enjoyment: ROCK SOLID HARD ;) 10!! Reading Kentarou san's work is not merely an enjoyment. It is a passion!
Overall: 8

Flipping through Kentarou san’s work is like reading the sacred texts of Ecchi. If you have never fantasized about Japanese high school girls, this is a great place to start.

*FBI OPEN UP*

This Manga is one of the favourite Manga which I have read till now.

And I think this Manga has some potential to get an Anime adaptation and also it should get an Anime adaptation.

Overall good plot, simple story and easy to understand ,but it gets complicated when you reach chapter 35. But after that you will get it what is going on. Till now I have read only 42 chapters and till now I am enjoying it.

The art style is normal ,nothing special and it's black and white print not colour print. But I love the art style of the curves which is ... to be expected from To love-ru writer.

I still wonder why is this Manga so much underrated in Mal. The score should be around 7.05 that is what I was expecting from this Awesome Manga.

I will say only 1 thing more this should get an Anime adaptation and that's all.

Ayakashi Triangle is an ecchi comedy that mixes in action elements, written by the same author of To Love-Ru.


Its start was, in my honest opinion, solid. While the action wasn’t out of this world, and the story wasn’t some masterclass storytelling that welled my eyes in tears, it did a great job at entertaining me, mixing perfectly the Slice of Life, comedy and action/plot.
Although, I could say that the World Building, at the very least at the start, can be a bit rough to swallow. Ignoring any resemblances to other series, many times when there’s something happening on screen, everything will halt, the characters will ... explain some completely new fact of the world you’ve never heard about and suddenly there’s a drastic change to your perception of the situation, in other words, the worldbuilding is provided through asspulls instead of through careful storytelling (mostly in the beginning, though.). It could be way better at laying things out, allowing us to engage with the world and characters in a stronger and easier manner.

The first arc was interesting, and while it could be better in a few parts, such as pacing and foreshadowing, it presented an interesting dynamic between the main characters, allowing us to see a clear plot progression every chapter. The climax, while well done in theory, did not bring out its fullest extent in practice.
It has everything, the new life of the protagonist is threatened, the villain is, if not charismatic, at least entertaining, it has an initial conflict where someone important to the protagonist is hurt and captured, the characters don’t stand around and beat around the bush, they go straight to the action, allowing the plot to flow with ease, there are moments of tension where it seems all hope is lost, grand transformations and shows of true power, and a satisfactory ending.
The only problem is, while it ticks off all the boxes in the list, none of them were done to the extent the actions reach the heart and make the reader’s feelings be moved deeply.

In simpler words, the first arc is solid, but it could be better.

The real issues begin after this.
We follow right after with a transition arc that is somewhat relaxed and fun, new characters being introduced, plot points being brought up, and a fun SoL with the characters. However, since it is there to pave way to the second arc, it may come to be somewhat forgettable.

The second arc itself brings the classic scenario of a gauntlet of powerful enemies to be defeated.
Out of the three opponents to be fought, two of them go down rather unceremoniously and without bringing in true weight or development for the characters(and it is all done rather fast), which makes it seem like the story didn’t receive the required attention so that it would be considered a solid piece of work and storytelling that can stand on its own two feet.
The third opponent, though, comes out with a bang. While the other two only possessed superficial connections to one of the main characters, this one comes with a direct connection, plot twists, foreshadowing and true weight to the story and its characters. It brings a climatic fight that brings out the feeling the story is going into a rising arc of conflict, ready to enter its climax, as the characters are forced to retread and prepare for the next conflict, which will hopefully be the last.

This is, in my opinion, the last time I can truly say the story is good or entertaining.
After a sudden love confession, which is neither deserved, nor does it change the dynamics in a truly noticeable way, all the conflict and stakes melt when the main villain (that third opponent) simply throws it all to the air and decides it is a good idea to join in the casual life of the protagonists, turning the story into a full on rom-con. The chapters lose proper continuity, and everything that happens in them doesn’t matter anymore, because all tension is fake, and it tells. The comedy loses a lot of what made it funny, despite suffering no apparent changes, and the story itself was lost.
It is as if, in the middle of a war, after a major development that could spell its end, the major leaders all decided to move in to a friendly neighborhood in a distant country and be friends living a nice old funny life.

Because of that, the world building falls down the toilet, actions that are taken solely for the sake of the comedy completely destroying any semblance of credibility that was built.



The art itself is excellent. The author is experienced and knows how to draw well and dynamically. The story itself is an ecchi, so, if that’s something that bothers you, the art is going to hurt to look at, but if you are someone that enjoys it, it is a marvelous treat for the eyes.




The characters are…
Well, *majority* of them have a strong personality from the very beginning, matching perfectly with striking character designs. In other words, with majority of them, you can have a good idea of their superficial personality just from one good look and the first thing they say.
When it comes to character depth, and I believe that this is maybe due to the fact the manga itself is not over yet, the majority of them can’t be called a three-dimensional character. While they all show they are more than just clichés and what’s at first glance, there isn’t enough exploration and development to call them deep and well-thought-out characters.
The main character is one that… can be polemic, as I’ve seen for myself in many internet discussions. To avoid any extensive arguments, I’ll just say that… there could be a deeper exploration, allowing for a more interesting character. There have been cases of characters that went through… less extreme transformations and had much more of their mentality and outlook on life changed, with a lot more exploration of their feelings and the process.
Another character that could also be more explored is the romantic interest, Suzu Kanade. Personally, I believe that there is a lot of personal drama that could be explored with her character, judging by all the circumstances that surround her, and yet, they are barely, if at all, explored, going solely by the shallowest of developments when it comes to all the situation surrounding her.


Now, when it comes to how entertaining the story was for me… well, I would say that, while it wasn’t the best story I’ve ever read, I found myself quite engaged (although not to the point of having my feelings deeply swayed by the climaxes) with the characters and plot, and had a lot of fun with the events surrounding them. The real issue, though, comes at the second arc; when the plot fell apart, so did my engagement and any importance I gave to the story. The jokes all felt out of place, considering the plot that *should* be happening full throttle, and the plot that wasn’t happening (though, it was, if you squinted, and it was shit, because it revolved fully around comedy), was sorely missed, it all being topped off by some ridiculous flanderization of some characters. It absolutely ruined all the good-will I had with this story, although, some good memories from the beginning still remain.





Now, to end this, I think it is important to talk about a few things:
This is a manga that has humor/comedy as a genre, so, why am I complaining so much about it bothering the plot?
Well, the reason is simple. IF this was a pure comedy manga, I wouldn’t even bate an eye to any of this happening, because they would’ve been expected. There aren’t true stakes in comedy manga, because the sole thing that matters in those is the comedy, is how funny it is, if the comedy retains its quality and the premise that moves it can keep going.
Problem is, this does not apply to this manga. This is a manga that decided to tell a story when the story required it, and it did. It created a world, and it created emotional and serious drama for the characters. Comedy being used to fill in the overall tone and interactions is perfectly fine, it helps with falling in love with the characters, makes it easier to approach them and feel more comfortable with them, being the perfect topping for the SoL. However, when the plot begins, the least the story could do was to take itself seriously and do what it proposed itself to do.

A world where we spend majority of the time in an SoL comedy, with a plot slowly developing on the background, creating a reality with which we care about, and giving a lot of weight when it all risks to shatter, allowing us to truly feel the stakes and seriousness of the plot. As we follow the characters in their journey and wish for them to protect the life that we’ve grown so attached to seeing them in.
When the comedy breaks the plot, the base in which this manga was built upon is also destroyed, and those that genuinely felt invested in the world and characters can’t do anything but feel disappointed.
In the end, the beginning was good, but for some decision that may have come from the author himself, or the editors wishing to milk the story for as long as possible, everything that was tumbles down.


I’ll keep on reading the story as it releases, however, I don’t know if my opinion of it will ever be as good as it used to be.

Kentaro Yabuki's art is absolute perfection as always, but the censorship wall hits way too hard (if you read To Love RU you know what I'm going through).

The story is... not that interesting in my opinion, maybe it's because only 19 chapters have been released until now, but I don't really see it going to be THAT interesting in the future either. 4/10

The art, as I stated earlier, is absolutely amazing. Kentaro Yabuki knows what he's doing, and he does it perfectly. 10/10

The characters... are not that interesting either. The only thing to spice things up is the gender bender factor. 5/10

I can't say I'm ... not enjoying the manga, but it's still only for the art really.

Overall I can't give this manga more than 7/10, the story really doesn't seem to be that interesting to me. I would've loved to give it more points only because Kentaro Yabuki is my favorite mangaka, but that's what it is at the moment.

Too bad it was serialized on shonen jump.

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Kentarou Yabuki is one of the most renowned Shounen authors of all time at this point. His first manga was a traditional battle-shounen, “Black Cat”, his second one was an ecchi, sci-fi comedy, “To-LOVE-ru”. His newest manga, that I have followed every week since 2021, combines the two most prevalent genres of his old works with a classic setting. And like always, there are a lot of crazy concepts being explored here.

Story – 7/10

The first few chapters do a great job at setting up the main concept of the show. After that, this manga continues very episodically, with each mini-arc spanning ... 1-4 chapters each. This really has the same vibe as a Saturday morning TV-show.
The main goal of the characters (Turning Matsuri back into a boy) gets put on the back-burner for most of the show. Instead, the series keeps a very fast pace with it´s side content. Every little mini-arc contains a different little magical concept that is being explored. From teleportation, invisibility, magical gadgets and even little time-travel stories, this manga stays fresh and new every chapter. But where this series deviates from a classical ecchi manga is the fights. This manga has full-on, “Naruto”-esque fight sequences which provide some nice little variety in the story. The pacing is very fast, this definitely feels like a modern manga.
On an emotional aspect, this manga is also interesting: If the person you like suddenly changes his gender, could you still love him the same way? And does love really transcend gender-norms all the time? This amount of LGBT content is really rare to find in Japanese media, especially the shounen-genre. This could be a sign of japan opening up to these kinds of topics, which is great, because there are a lot of highly interesting themes to be explored here.
The biggest aspect of this manga is of course the ecchi content, and I have to say, it delivers. This is some of the most unhinged stuff I have ever seen in a Shounen Jump manga. It never feels dull or undeserved, and is mostly combined with extremely funny scenarios.
However, I think the main story does not have enough meat on it for the manga to go on for so long. It mainly serves as a way for the author to play around with ridiculous magical scenarios. I think 100 chapters would have been the perfect length. After a while, the manga starts to lose itself in the side-stories a little bit to much.

Art – 9/10

I mean, there is a reason why Kentarou Yabuki is called the king of ecchi. He has been the most prominent author of the genre for almost 20 years now. To-LOVE-ru already showed his capability to craft immaculate ecchi-scenes but I honestly think that he has improved his game A LOT, which is especially visible in the chapter introductions. Every character is distinct and consistent, the clothing and different outfits perfectly fit the setting and the chapters fly by in a breeze because of his simple but effective paneling. This is one of the manga that would really improve with a coloured version, because I think Yabuki Kentarou is one of the best when it comes to coloured manga panels. This has to be one of the cleanest looking ecchi-works that I have ever read.

Characters – 9/10

I think this category is always highly influenced by the way the respective manga is being read. If you just breeze by it in a few days, the characters might not have a huge impact on you, but if you only read one chapter every week for almost two years, you will have a completely different view.
There is a certain set of characters that gets introduced very early on. Every one has at least 3 little arcs to himself, giving everyone little bits of development sprinkled throughout the manga. The main thing here is of course the relationship of Matsuri and Suzu, and I think this is the mangas biggest strenght. They explore some really interesting topics here that I have never seen in any other type of manga. This is truly a one-of-a-kind love story! I honestly think that after the fantastic ending, Suzu Kanade is one of the best female characters ever in the ecchi genre.
The side characters were also fantastic, with the edgy, but dense Ninokuru being my favorite.
The only downside here is that there were a few weird decisions made by Yabuki here. Why does the female lead, Suzu, have so many different personalities and forms at the end? There exist an adult version, a cat-girl version, a loli version and more(!). These could all be different characters.

Enjoyment – 8/10

I wish this manga was shorter, but although there was some meandering in the middle it was never outright bad and the good aspects outshine the bad ones. This is a highly creative and inventive entry in the ecchi genre and i am eager to see what Yabuki Kentarou is cooking up next!

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 8/10

First i want to say good thing about this series.

the art is great. one of the best art i seen in a while. As we all know, Great art is needed when it's come to ecchi series

that's about it.


story is predictable and kinda boring. typical shounen action with yokai and stuff. the only interesting thing for me is the gender bender mc.

if you love ecchi just for the sake of it. then it's for you! , cuz this series have everything you ever need. waifu, boobs, highschool girls, ass, fanservice. just name it. Thou maybe not to the level of To-love ru
...
if not. then find other series to read (or try read Black Cat), cuz you're gonna drop this baby faster than you drop your responsibility.

Kentaro Yabuki is an amazing artist, and that's why I decided to check out this mangaka...that's it. I have seen so many panels from other mangaka that Kentaro Yabuki have drawn, and they are all beautiful including the visuals for Ayakashi Triangle.
The plot is not exactly the best, but I really love the artwork so I decided to try and stick with it.. but then I couldn't... and here is why.
The concept of a genderbent character is fine, you see it in fan art and anime a lot, so I am pretty used to it at this point. That is not my problem ... at all. My problem is though in fact driven by the choice for the only motivation the main characters to have is changing the once male and now female main protagonist back into a male. I would have liked to see the characters have some kind of motivation before the plot started (and no not backstory) and then have the gender swap problem throw a wrench in their original quest.
My other problem is that the main villain that turned our main character into a female, literally takes the form of a friggin yokai cat. Let me be 100% clear when I say I cannot stand when the main villain in a story sucks. This villain sucks.
I do like however, the idea that the female protagonist (can't remember her name oops) attracts dangerous yokai creatures, that main character-kun has to slay. It brings more chances of conflict into the plot, and more fight scenes are always welcome in my house.
Although I have only read about 5 or 6 chapters of this manga, I can say with certainty that no matter how much I like the artwork, I will not be able to sit through such a bland story.

Reading Ayakashi Triangle gives me the feeling of watching a neutered animal. It’s somewhat the same, but it has lost something important.

The art is impressive as always. Character features are highly detailed, the spacing in each panel is great. However, the amount of censorship caused me to lose interest in this series sooner than I thought. IMO, the reason one read Yabuki Kentaro’s work is mostly because of his art, but the magic is lost here.

The story is nothing to write home about. It’s a generic fighting manga with a gender bender factor. The characters are somewhat one-dimensional.

Art: 10/10
Story: 5/10
Characters: 5/10

The first manga I ever read was Ranma 1/2, so when i saw that Akayashi Triangle in the same way , recall about Ranma , men... it was as my childhood was back, even the similarity, likewise, the Martial art, spirit cat , that was present even in Ranma, the difference is between them the 2 character don't hate each other, otherwise they love eachother , but they can't express their felling, giving much love story, the martial art is Ninjutsu and exorcism, not kempo, but i love as it is. my vote is 8 and if they next chapter are good i would give ... even 9, that's because i feel my childhood.

Despite what others might tell you, the characters are not interesting nor likeable. The story is dumb. The genderbending yuri bait is lackluster. Most of the girls are unsexy and worst of all is the romance. Why is the romance the worst? Because the couple we are supposed to root for suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

Suzu is so boring. She starts off as alright, kinda bland, but eventually she just becomes so unlikeable due to everyone in the story loving her for literally no reason. Legitimately she has very little personality traits that stand out in any way and out of all the girls introduced she has the ... most forgettable design. Her boobs and ass are average and she's consistently such a bore.

Matsuri is no better. While he's not quite as boring as Suzu, he has the same problem as her of having very little to invest in. He has a bit of a goofy side to contrast with his attitude in battle, but beyond that he's just...meh. Whenever he turned back into a boy he had absoluetly zero main character energy, the one thing I somewhat enjoy about him is his female counterpart design.

The other characters are no better, hell the one character I did like (Ninokuru) quickly sours as they repeat the same joke over and over and over and fucking over with him.

This is gonna be a bit controversial (maybe?) but I dislike Yabuki Kentarou's character design. I have not read the To Love-Ru manga in full but I have read certain scenes on certain websites, and I just plain do not enjoy the way he draws faces or bodies. Like his style is not bad, it's just that I have seen sexier and cuter girls in other manga that aren't even within the ecchi spectrum.

The lewd scenarios aren't really anything special either. Oh wow a guy falls into a girl's vagina/cleavage, gee never seen that before. I wish there was more erotic emphasis on the ayakashi and the ninja theme, like how come there's so little bondage? There should be more bondage if ninjas are involved!!!

Well, if you want to read a an amazing ecchi this is the manga and it couldn't be different when it comes to master Kentarou.

Although it's a great ecchi with beautiful art by the same author of To Love-Ru, the plot is weak... character changing gender, etc. It ends up being extremely predictable and boring.

The art is simply wonderful as i said, the characters are beautiful and curvy. In the end i miss a male protagonist, and its kinda funny lmao. The plot is weak, but it's an ecchi i don't usually score an ecchi considering the story.

Well, if you're looking for a lovingly made ... ecchi this would be a great choice.

Score:

Art: 10

Story: 5

Characters: 8

Enjoyment: 8 (it's pretty fun tho)

Overall: 6

Hello there . I won't bother you with a huge of text so I will be as fast as possible . The review will be split into two small parts :

First part (it is for people who haven't read this author's previous works and are just interested in reading an fan service/ecchi manga):
Yabuki Kentarou's strong points were never :the ability to write well constructed stories , well developed characters but in Ayakashi Triangle they were unexpectedly below average . I personally felt more connected with the side characters rather than the Matsuri who was completely uninteresting and existed as a ... horny material for the other main character called Suzu . In conclusion if you only want to look at some very interesting spicy art without having the need to read a good story , read this manga (buy and read the uncensored version of course) . But if you want a good balance between art quality and story , avoid it and don't waste your time.

Second part (is for the people who are familiar with this author and are very sure if they really want to invest their time and money for this manga):
As a huge a fan of this manga with high but realistic expectations I would say no , DON'T fall into the same trap as I did . I personally read it with the same mindset and expectations I had from his previous works and I can't hide fact this manga felt more like cash grab . This is no ranting /hating but I feel as a costumer who bought all the volumes , sad to report that I firmly believe that only the art quality will satisfy you by the time you finish the manga . This is one of the rare cases I haven't personally experienced before and I feel Yabuki used his fame , name and of course only the ability to draw some good erotic material (talking only about art , not the story) to earn cash and of course Shueisha gained from this too.

I would have given it a 5 or even lower if I didn't enjoy the art so much. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Ayakashi Triangle is a manga that is not made for everyone. In a similair vain to series like Yuuna and the Hounted Hotsprings and To Love-Ru this series is extremely ecchi. Speaking of To Love-Ru, if you liked that than you will definetly like this as they are by the same artist.
Let's start with this series main selling point the art. The art in AyaTri is phenomenal. Yabuki Kentarou is a master at drawing humans and then specifically woman. But also the fight scenes and just general chill panels look really good. The art is clean and absolutely gorgeous.

Secondly the characters, they are great. The ... characters are all quite unique and fun. They are generally well motivated and fun to see, even is they are sometimes a bit wierd (Reo). The only downside to the characters is that they are sometimes a bit too horny, but that is to be expected from the series.

The Story isn't amazing, as it is generally quite epesodic, but the overarching plot is generally well done and especially the ending is well done.

If you like ecchi then you will definetly enjoy this and if you don't then this is probably not for you. The series isn't amazing, but it is a ton of fun and it is good at what it wants to be: a ecchi romcom with action elements.

Story
The general tone of the story is pretty light hearted, and the primary genres are ecchi romcom. Dealing with ayakashi was a dual plotline with Matsuri progressing his relationship with Suzu and making friends along the way. Much of this story is character focused which I think it does very well. Each character had their own subplotlines to progress though I must admit some feel a bit unfinished by the end. I thought the story blended action, comedy, and slice of life stuff together well.

Characters
Definitely one of the strongest parts of the manga. Soga was my fav character with him ... always being a advisor/friend to guide female Matsuri the whole journey. Reo is the engineer who does not do much outside making some inventions. Likely a reference to Lala from To Love Ru (the authors other work). Suzu was a very unique mc as it is rare to see such a shameless mc in a romance. Matsuri was a nice contrast by him being pretty resserved overall as opposed to Suzu`s nature. Shirogane the cat was also a standout character who often feels like the straightman correcting Suzu from time to time. Most of even the minor characters were pretty likable, and the cast never felt too bloated.

Art
The art is stellar. Action is very well detailed. Even trivial panels have a lot of work into backgrounds. Corners never felt cut, and the ecchi moments were always done very well. A minor criticism though is that the nipples never really get drawn on the female characters. I thought it was a bit silly Matsuri had a panel once next to his male self which drawn the male version`s nipple, but the female version just skipped that detail. Guessing it was a age rating issue of some sort.

Overall
I really enjoyed the manga overall. The biggest downside is likely the story ending off really quick not exactly concluding some side character plot points. However, I would say go for it if you like the idea of a light hearted comedy with a little bit of action. If you like ecchi, it will not let you down. Also, I enjoyed the genderswap humor which was a theme in the vein of ranma 1/2.