Sousei no Onmyouji
Twin Star Exorcists

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Sousei no Onmyouji. At first I thought this was only a mere exorcism story that was only about fight, friendship, and stuff which are rather crap nowadays but it's nothing like that. This 4th work from manga author Yoshiaki Sukeno has emerged to be quite phenomenal in its unique traits.

The story revolves in a world where exorcists fight demon-like creature called as "impurities" or "kegare". Basically Kegare are residents of another world called Magano which then cross into human world in order to massacre humans just for power. They have been responsible for killing humans in the last one thousand years since the war began. ... They are violent, ruthless and persistent which make them so difficult to fight against. Not only that, even some of them, the exceptional ones are intelligent enough to outsmart Humans in combats. For that reason, they are considered as a major threat to humanity's survival. In any case the long-lasting war has to be ended, either with human victory or human demise, The exorcists will strive.

Well, the general idea looks simple eh?, until there's a boy named Rokuro. 2 years before story timeline, Rokuro was originally a genius 12 year old exorcist carving to obliterate every impurity from human world and Magano. With high determination he was sure of it, Unfortunately the tragedy occurred and Rokuro stopped being an exorcist since then. For 2 years Rokuro have tried to undergo normal life and avoid exorcism related stuff but all of that ended up failing. It's rather funny at start of story that people treat Rokuro as a weirdo instead, to make it worse his family exorcists also treat him like a child and abuse Rokuro a lot. Lots of misfortunes happening around him until The fated first encounter with the heroine Benio occurred unexpectedly causing awkward situation especially for Rokuro. There, their first encounter has turned over Rokuro's fate as a genuine exorcist for the second time.


==Story 9/10==
Not being extravagant of me. The story is unexceptionally appealing for me, it has its own dreadful side where these kids got to devote their lives as exorcists disregarding their cruel pasts about Kegare. Being forced by fate and responsibility these kids show unimaginable resolution for their age. In regard to exorcism part of the story, it's not less sophisticated. For example, there is so-called Miko the strongest of strongest exorcists assumed as a legendary in history of exorcism. This Miko is said as form of hope for humanity against impurities, and the requirement to obtain a Miko is the most interesting part of the story as well which involves Rokuro and Benio's mutual life.

Every detail given seems to be strongly responsible to make up its solid story structure. In other words we have great plot for this manga that successfully suffice my personal satisfaction for a decent story sequence. It also has become much more solid after knowing both protagonists' pasts. I suppose the further the story goes, the darker it will be, and more sacrifices will be needed.

This manga's story pacing is pretty neat, It doesn't really rush its story so that readers will have enough time to comprehend what's exactly going on and every problem that might require some further cognition in order to enjoy the story. The dialogues and narrations in this manga are also prone to follow, even beginner readers will find it easy and effortless. In addition, with some well placed mild jokes scattered in the story , it successfully enhances its own distinct impression. Furthermore, I really appreciate manga author who's able to write and to build a story correctly starting from a solid backstory to story structure later on. Yoshiaki Ukeno is indeed one of them

==Character 8/10==
Focusing on the two main characters, Rokuro and Benio, Both are unique in their own traits. Starting from Rokuro, He was actually a boy who used to be coward, quick-tempered, ignorant and loudmouthed. Traits you will find typical in most shounen characters, yet it's quite distinct with Rokuro. While majority of characters in any shounen obtain motivations from their pasts to push forward, Rokuro is in fact the opposite. Rokuro had been traumatized no other by his own past until he quit being an exorcist 2 years ago. This distinction is probably Yoshiaki Sukeno's characterization style applied to Rokuro as the male lead in the story. On the second one we have Benio, the female lead who was rather cold, confident, serious and straightforward. She despised Rokuro assuming he was just a coward who wouldn't fight Kegare, here She had yet to discover Rokuro's past. Not that much different with Rokuro's past, Benio's past can also be considered very grim, but undeterred by her past She kept pushing forward and being stronger each day so as to exterminate Kegare.

Initially, these two characters have no similar traits at all, that makes them almost impossible to be paired. However, Along the way of story they have stumbled upon a lot of misery, tragedy and grief which have shaped Rokuro and Benio maturely. Since then, both of them have been thriving and striving to fight on their journey to become proper twin star exorcists in order to achieve their respective goals. Moreoever, every character in this manga is unique actually, not only to mention both main characters but all including the ruthless Kegare. I also like characters' determinations of why they fight, what support them to become stronger, even the enemy's intimidation itself takes part in characters' determinations particularly for both protagonists.

==Artwork 8/10==
The character drawing is kinda neat with exact body proportion, so I relatively have no problem when enjoying the character drawing. Expression of each character is nothing out of place too, every expression is placed accordingly to existing situation also I like drawing of the Kegare that's rather spooky. Nevertheless, If only the Kegare drawings were rougher, It'd be better. Expecting it's as rough as titan drawing full of random scratches from SNK in order to bring out horror atmosphere more.

For battle drawing, It's nothing less than vicious drawing which makes it thrilling to experience. It utilizes thick stress lines to bring out character dynamism and impact of every action to become more realistic, I really like it. In addition the arts are getting better as well, especially in the recent chapters. I have to say the artist or author has made a significant improvement not only in the arts but also in the narrations and dialogues, perhaps only a little, but it's still worth noticing.

==Enjoyment 9/10==
My enjoyment comes from great characterization, plot, story and story structure. I find all of them in this manga. Also with dialogues and narrations which are rather convenient to follow, it makes this manga is well suited for any kind of reader. I'd recommend this to anyone.

==Overall 8.5/10==
Based on 29 chapters I've read, This manga has decent quality to make viewers eagerly curious of what's gonna happen next. Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this series. Some day this series will become big if it maintains its composure steadily.

I have wanted to write this for some time now, yet I haven’t gotten around to it. But now with the upcoming anime adaptation I feel it is as good of a time as any.
When I first heard about this series I thought I would like it, and I was right. The series probably seems dumb by what the description says, and maybe the first few chapters. But give it a try and you might like it. I thought it may not be quite what I expected when I first started, but there were only ten chapters translated at the time so I stuck ... with it. And I’m glad I did, on the surface it may seem shallow, but there is a lot of potential if you just give it a try.
I think that the story and the relationship between the two main characters is rather enjoyable to see. Even though the story can be ruff and maybe even dark sometimes it always has happy and funny times. I think it really completes the story to have the funny moments paralleled by struggles and short-comings, and there is a great deal of each. By doing so it shows that the characters are not larger than life; not only do they have their humorous moments they have a lot of serious and tragic times also. Sometimes their relationship can be rocky and strained, and other times awkward. What can you expect when you are told that you were destined to be with some one that you just met, and don’t even get along that well with. Personally I think that these struggles add to the depth of the story. It does seem that even if they didn’t really like the whole marriage thing in the beginning; they have grown accustomed to the idea. I think that for these two characters being told that someone can not only keep up with you but will be by your side while you fight pure evil together. Even if it takes some time to get used to, I’m sure sounds quite nice when you have been fighting alone for so long. It might be slow sometimes, but it is a good story and I can’t wait to see what will happen next. The story and characters are well developed for the length of the series; also the story has a good balance of action, comedy, and romance. In closing it has an interesting premise and I think someone needed to write a story like it, and I’m happy I found it.

Update; Chapter 97 and 98 were embarrassing. Kamui now being full on shoujo-prince and nobody minding it is weird and just too cringy. The story "development" is the usual "oh no the lovers couldn't be together boo hoo" sob story but it all feels so unsatisfying and insignificant- you just know it will end like the most average and everything happening right now will be inconsequential. I just hope they won't push for the Kamui love story even more now that Benio is going full Kegare- it just feels like this is a set up for the most pathetic writing ever.

Many of the higher rated ... reviews are comprehensible BUT I am 100% honest when saying, the manga is just not as good further in- both subjectively AND objectively.

The story is really simple, characters grow/get stronger and huge developments happen every ~15 chapters with epic fights all the time- the usual success formula. And that is okay. I will now elaborate on how the manga failed and why a shoujo tag would not be wrong.

The worst part of this manga has to be, and it hurts to type this, Benio(later on). I absolutely adore(d) her character- Benio developed in an unbelievably satisfying pace alongside Rokuro (and some other cast members). Every bit of change felt justified and, now the most important part, kept piling onto her initial character making her consistent- and this is where Benio falls to ruin, too.

The whole Benio-Kamui "self-discovery tour"-arc was a pain and the "beginning of the end". Their interactions were quite honestly cringe worthy. Benio was degraded into a stupid, gullible, naive high school girl that let's the big guy trample on herself. She suddenly forgives Kamui for decimating her family in the most gruesome way possible, committing mass-murder, and even for sexually assaulting her while alone together- and as if not enough already, she goes super friend/rival mode with him.

Why? Because he fought off an enemy that was there for 2minutes. "I won't forgive you but for my sake don't die"- is Benio supposed to appear wise and powerful in this moment, when she tells Kamui? She just seems dumb and this whole ordeal as a way to push the cringy shoujo-fication even further. This goes as far as Benio telling Kamui "I am sorry, you keep helping me". Benio you stupid B*tch- you just turned into one of the worst, most infuriating characters ever- the whole development and dialogue made no sense- it just didn't.

Now wait a moment... Shoujo-fication...? Yeah. Kamui is gushing about Benio since he was about to rape her, blushing, eyeing and worshipping Benio- turning full shoujo-prince 2nd ML going "I feel my chest tighten if she is hurt uwu what is that feeling" (actually), all after beheading Benio's family in front of her, fighting her loved ones, committing mass murder and forcing himself on her. He also pretty much confesses to Benio. For the first time every, reading hurt IRL. At this point I fear the future.

Could it be any worse? Well, everything I just described happens in 4! FOUR chapters only. It is rushed and feels unnatural.

In recent chapters, Kamui goes full "I will steal yo girl, give her to me if I win" mode in a -not so epic- battle with with Rokuro. It feels forced, Benio not acting on it is weird (denying him or telling him to fuck off finally and reassuring Rokuro) and it reads like a 3rd rate shoujo story- it is slightly less worse than the whole Kamui-Benio arc but it still is so incredibly bad.

Finally, when reuniting with Rokuro, Benio wears an eyepatch, talks as if she was retarded (not as an insult, she probably is now), making her increasingly annoying with every some chapters and acts differently (more mature and direct at times)... but why? There was no happening to bring forth said "development"- and it really is not. The character just feels different.


Somewhere along the way the manga just went full odyssey, it goes in 10 directions but every single one is wrong. What was done to Benio as a character is a crime. The fact that giving the manga a shoujo tag wouldn't be wrong is so weird and just shows that the author had a vision but went about it in the worst way possible. Kamui developing emotions and feeling guilt is a good idea, but it just was insanely rushed and way too cliche-shoujo with how serious and gory the (Kamui-)story begins.


I would love to say those are small flaws but ruining a major main character and throwing in cheap developments and a whole other genre randomly just make for a weird and finally worse experience.