Gonensei

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Have you ever cry wanked? - Joey the Anime Man from the Trash Taste Podcast, episode 21.

To start, Yonensei and Gonensei are manga created by Shimoku Kio, who is also the creator of Genshiken. Yonensei is the (a little bit boring, if I'm being honest) first series, and Gonensei is the sequel series. You should read Yonensei before Gonensei, but don't worry, as it is a very short read.

I finished this manga a long time ago, but I held off on a review for so long that I've almost forgotten most things about this series. While it might seem bad that I procrastinated for so ... long, I actually did this on purpose because I personally don't want to remember this series.

I first caught wind of this manga as a recommendation from Beyond Ghibli's YouTube video titled "DEGENERATE". As with all of Beyond Ghibli's work, it is a masterpiece, and it should definitely be worth your time. In his video he mentions Yonensei/Gonensei as an early work done by the same author of Genshiken, which made the series an immediate high-priority to-read manga for me, as I love Genshiken. Not knowing much about Gonensei, I assumed it would be something similar to the wholesomeness and slice of life comedy of Genshiken.

And how I was wrong. This is the exact opposite of the wholesomeness, slice of life comedy of Genshiken.

Before I start going into specifics, I will say that I did not enjoy reading this manga. However, it kept me hooked throughout the entire series, and although I did not enjoy this manga I think that there is some standard of quality in this series. I think that this series could range anywhere from a 0 to a 10, which is why I personally gave it a perfectly average score of 3/5 (8/10 on MAL). To its credit, this manga has left enough of an imprint in my mind for me to not only write a review, but also still remember it (a bit too clearly) a few months later.

And now onto the specifics.

Is this manga a masterpiece? I don't want to say that it is a masterpiece, but it definitely has quality. Shimoku Kio is a master of creating great characters, and although I don't know if all the characters in Gonensei are likeable, I think that they are compelling and relatable (I personally have acted the exact same way as certain characters). I somehow manage to care for these characters, even if I hate their actions. The series honestly feels like sometimes the characters are just put in an illogical, horrible position, and they are left to deal with the fallout. Of course, they are young and stupid and therefore make stupid mistakes, but every action they take somehow feels real, like this story could and would play out in real life.

And that is where the genius of this series lie. The series revolves around the characters, and none of them are perfect. Early on in the series, the story reaches a climax, and the rest of the series has each character dealing with the fallout, all while aging and learning (albeit slowly) from their mistakes. There is much to be said about the ending, but that involves spoilers, and I personally don't want to go into it either.

But that is also why I hate this series. Some of the things that the characters do are stupid and irresponsible and horrible, but I can see anyone acting this way. The best words I can think to describe this series with are "frighteningly real."

So is this manga recommendable? I'm torn because I love Shimoku Kio's work and I want his work to have more attention, but for this series I do not think that I can recommend this to most people. I am someone who hates NTR and anything to do with cheating and I hated reading this manga, yet the story was so compelling that I just couldn't put it down. I had to force myself to take breaks while reading this, but during those breaks this manga was all I could think about. If you are a masochist and you somehow like NTR and other messy stories (think Scum's Wish), then maybe this is perfect for you. But even with all the criticism, I think it's important to note that the manga is genuinely well written and perfectly executed. This series could be seen as either a 0 or a 10.

There is much, much more that I had planned to talk about this series when I first finished it, but that would take too much time and I don't want to think about this series any more than I have to.

If you want to go read something that won't break your mind and heart for weeks, go read Genshiken, it is so much more worth your time.

Story: 8/10

I both hate and love the story

Art: 8/10

Nothing special, but gets the job done

Character: 10/10

great characters, even if I hate them sometimes

Enjoyment: 0/10

Did not enjoy

Overall: 8/10

An average of how well done the manga was, and how little I enjoyed it.