Wild Strawberry

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This is a series that gets better and better with each chapter. Someone who has read just the first few chapters won't be able to give an accurate account or prediction for the series (though they sure think they can) because it has changed notably since the beginning. One wouldn't know from the beginning where the series is now, and that's a good thing. I won't say it's free of tropes (it's impossible to not have tropes anymore), but it manages to feel fresh. As far as story goes, the storytelling is actually extraordinary.

The presentation is Wild Strawberry's strength. That goes for the beautiful artwork ... and the interesting storytelling. Even for story beats that may not be particularly great, mangaka Ire Yonemoto delivers them in a cool way, and so it *feels* more interesting. This especially improves over the course of the manga. It keeps the reader entranced in each chapter. Continuing with the presentation aspect, the *art* is this series' strongest point. The mangaka is clearly a very talented artist, and draws many sweeping and epic scenes. The overall "direction" is well done with an artistic vision. The action is exciting and easy to follow.

Overall, the power system and world building are well thought out. Most characters have a type of weapon that looks quite unique and cool in battle. The weapons all have different "power sources" that make them strong, though it's not so simple... The world is semi-futuristic, taking place just a bit in the future. It looks a lot like the present day, but there are pieces of technology and such that push it a bit further. I enjoy seeing the Tokyo ruined by monstrous plants depicted in this series.

Characters have been developed solidly. The manga takes its time in general, which does work out well. Many of the characters so far have become likeable over time, and they have good depth in reference to motivations and actual actions. The cast use unique and memorable designs while not looking ridiculous or over designed. The mangaka allots a lot of time not just to the main protagonist but to the deuteragonist and side cast as well.

To reiterate, this is a spectacular, high-quality series that may be a bit of a slow burner for some. While there may be comparisons to other series like Chainsaw Man for example, any similarities are surface level and this manga is very different at its core. It takes place in a modern setting with powerful, deadly monsters and it doesn't shy away from violence, but it would be difficult to make many more clear comparisons. The thematic center of this series is two people with no real connections or family in the world, trying to be each other's family. They protect each other as they're the only family they could consider to have. It's a nice and clean theme that works well for the story as well as the protagonist's powers. This manga continues to develop well and has been wonderful.

The art in this is great, and already I have a deep feeling for the characters in this story, namely Kayano, the main character's younger sister who has a short time (or maybe not?) "on screen." There's a lot of detail, and the landscape and character design are beautiful - the world building is already really great: complex but not hard to understand. However, as a Tokyo Ghoul fan, I can already tell this is going to be pretty similar (half-human half-monster, MC can control said monster, monster(s) eat others and spread that way, MC being saved by someone and getting infected that ... way, monsters able to conceal themselves) especially with one of the MC's eyes being black because of his infection. I'm hoping the story becomes more of its own, but so far it's Tokyo Ghoul-but-plant-zombies. I'm going to keep reading because I LOVE Tokyo Ghoul, but if you know that's not your flavor of manga, or are looking for something more unique, I'd look elsewhere!

I’m might come off as a hater but I genuinely wanted to like this manga. That being said I had three insurmountable issues with its preface and just couldn’t get into it.
1. Inconsistent pacing
When you start any action oriented piece, I feel like most people expect a temporary build up, almost like instructions to the understand the tone and vibe to expect from the get-go. In chapter 1 its employs the “build and drop” technique twice in scenarios that should take place over a few chapters. It might just be me, but it’s like the author has already expected you to understand the style of ... chaotic writing that’s about to take place.
2. Incoherent universe rules
I expected the world to be brutal coming into it, but from the start of chapter 2 it told me a lot of decisions made by the government would make zero sense. The chapter starts off with a distraught man infected with Jinka being prepared for incineration. That’s fine. But he is incinerated alive. Why? Not explained. I’m to assume that Jinka takes over the life source of the affected entity but not the cognitive abilities? Why is that on the reader to infer and so early on? Also why would a possible victim of a “special variant Jinka” be surrounded by teams of people without any special fitted equipment? You get where I’m going with this. The rules makes no sense. Even if they’re explained later on that doesn’t excuse the miscommunication now between the scenes shown to the reader.
3. Plot contrivance
Everything I have mentioned is expected to be overlooked for one reason: the sweet and meek little sister whose older brother will stop at nothing to protect her. Please for the love of god save me from this preaching. I’ve seen it done dozens of times and exponentially better. I understand a lot of things are still a mystery and that’s not an issue, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the sister is deceiving the brother in some way because it all has been way to convenient so far.

I’d love to say this series just isn’t for me but truth be told it’s just not that good and has several problems in its structure and foundation.
Edit: The question of Jinka not infecting some who inhales the pollen is explained in chapter 12, which further strengthens my point. This is something we should know from chapter 2 where cases are presented.