Shibatora

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Japanese: シバトラ

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 15

Chapters: 131

Status: Finished

Published: 2006 to 2009

Genres: Action, Drama

Theme: Detective

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Magazine (Weekly)

Authors: Kibayashi, Shin (Story), Asaki, Masashi (Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.85¹ (scored by 2,143 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1129²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3683

Members: 6,016

Favorites: 57

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7.85

Ranked #1129Popularity #3683Members 6,016

MangaShounen Magazine (Weekly)Kibayashi, Shin (Story), Asaki, Masashi (Art)

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Volumes: /15

Chapters: /131

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Synopsis

The story follows a rookie cop named Taketora Shibata who, despite his childish looks of a middle-schooler, fights against juvenile crime and has the ability to see anything at a crime scene. Nevertheless, it's still a struggle to rise out of the ranks and become a real detective.

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Background

Shibatora was adapted into an 11-episode TV drama which aired from July 8, 2008 to September 16, 2008.

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Characters

Shibata, Taketora

Main

Houshou, Mizuki

Main

Fujiki, Kojirou

Main

Reviews

Aug 7, 2023

hexashadow13

Recommended

tl;dr: An episodic manga that does a good job of showcasing a young detective reforming juvenile criminals, though with a pretty muddled ending.

Shibatora is a manga about Shibata Taketora, who despite looking like a middle school student is actually a 22-year-old police officer. Despite that, he does still seem have the pure heartedness of a child. One would think that would be a major liability for a detective, but the way the stories play out it actually works out quite well for him. Taketora is part of the juvenile crime division and his firm belief is that his job isn’t simply to arrest young people ... that commit crimes, but rather to help them see that what they’ve done is wrong and help guide them back onto the straight and narrow. For the most part he does this through believing in the good of people regardless of the circumstances and though things often do get complicated with him constantly having to risk his life, in the end his sincerity is enough to get through to them. It’s an incredibly optimistic look at people, especially for a crime story, but it’s written in a way that plays to it’s strengths such that it’s uplifting and leaves a really positive impression.

At the beginning of the manga, it feels like it’s going in the direction of Taketora being physically weak but a genius detective. It quickly moves away from that however, and ultimately Taketora is straight up overpowered physically, though only decent when it comes to deductions. This manga is also not very realistic or logical when it comes to how police or criminals operate. As such, the mysteries in general aren’t all that great. Where the manga excels is in its characters. It does a good job of fleshing out the criminals, explaining what led them to committing the crimes they did in such a way they can be empathized with, showing how they come to feel sorry for what they did, and then keeping them relevant to show how they move on with their lives in a way that feels fair.

Many prior culprits assist Taketora in future cases. This can feel kind of forced at times in how it tries to get everything to connect, but continuing to see characters you’ve already begun to like makes it feel worth it. Their continuing presence is a double-edged sword though with the way the manga progresses unfortunately. The manga becomes noticeably darker in the second half. In the first half, the key characters are stopped before committing major crimes and everyone is always saved before anything unrecoverable happens. In the second half not so much. If these were all new characters this wouldn’t be too bad, but due to reuse of old characters, this can result in characters who had gone through a character arc, grown as people, and succeeded in turning their lives around getting screwed over which left a really bitter aftertaste.

There’s also somewhat of an overarching plot to things that culminates in the final arc, but I felt it was pretty badly handled. It involves Taketora’s background both in terms of his family and the events that led him to want to become a detective in the juvenile division. There’s a supernatural element that’s introduced early on in the manga that all this ties into, but the entire mechanic felt out of place and pretty unnecessary. Taketora’s personal background was more important but felt pretty rushed in how it was revealed and tied into everything. There’s also a romance, but it’s just kind of sort of there for most of the manga without there ever really being in the focus, though I do appreciate that it dealt with it properly in the end. I suppose the ending to the manga overall was satisfying enough all things considered, but to be honest the final case felt like the weakest of the major cases in the manga, so it was also kind of lackluster.

The art is decent enough and showcases both the characters and locations pretty well. It can be gritty when it needs to but also handled light hearted and comedic moments well. The comedy is also pretty solid, with a lot of it being centered around Taketora being mistaken for a middle school student, but with enough variety beyond that to keep from getting stale. There’s also action every now and then, and while this certainly isn’t an action manga, what there is is handled pretty well.

This is tied into other manga but I haven’t read them. For what it’s worth, outside of a single chapter, it never felt like I was missing anything.

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Nov 3, 2020

Shellshock123

Recommended

Shibatora is a series starring a vertically challenged MC. He is a police officer who is in a part of the youth division section. They deal with crime committed by the underage. The series deals with various youth committed crimes and the after effects of those crimes and what not.

The series isn't just 1 whole story. Its several laced together in a sense. Their are a total of 5 arcs i believe. Each dealing with minor's and how they have their own problems. I think the author did a good job in trying the make the children *not* the bad guys. One of the ... main themes is that every child becomes a criminal because of their parents, something i disagree on personally, however for some of them i think the author did a decent job for making them seem like its not their fault. I mean i don't think anyone would think it is just his or her fault but it has the intended effect the author is going for.

Due to this *its not your fault* mindset the main character believes that every child can be changed. Their in lies the problem. Originally the first 2 arcs were solid. I really liked it they had a lot of intense moments the main character was badass and amazing double page spreads really made the series enjoyable to read. However the next 2 arcs were more of a problem. Honestly I hate the fact that main character tries to reform every single delinquent. Part of his technique to do this is believe everything they will say to the point where i was verbally saying **come on**. Part of this got annoying but the main reason it pissed me off was because it worked. But it didn't feel deserved more like he got lucky and in turn the delinquent reformed as well. This happens on more than one occasion and this part didn't have the intended effect as the author wanted.

Which is why i also kinda liked his supervising officer but her turned out to be a bit of a waste. I also felt like his friend the white haired dude wasn't utilized well enough. Some of the other characters also feel wasted and were used as comedy routines too many times. I liked the heroine though. She was funny and her personality brought a lot of funny and cute moments in the series.

Though dealing with Kids in this series can be a hit or miss, dealing with adults is just amazing to see. The MC has 2 side to him. The kind soft calm side dealing with children, and super sayain mode dealing with adults. This contrast is very satisfying to watch and unfold. Though i do not like how adults are almost always blamed i do like how the main characters deals with it though. One of the situation is the main character playing the cat and mouse game with a very professional law student and its so insane. I won't say its on par with Light vs L but i did very much enjoy the word game they had.

Most of this stuff though actually occurs in the beginning. The dealing with adults and charisma or likability of the main character is why i really enjoyed the first 2 arcs. But beyond that it start losing it. The dealing with Kids is a hit or miss like a mentioned because the 3rd and 4th arc just aren't as good as the beginning. They aren't bad, but you'd expect more after being hyped from the first 2 arcs. Now the last arc however is well written. Author starts taking risks and it pays off. Character's are more interesting. Situations are more dangerous and the stakes are the highest they've ever been. I didn't think the ending was bad either. However the resolution of the last arc got too political, unnecessarily and the ending ending was too nice personally.

Another thing i didn't like was that the main character could see whether or not a person was about to be in mortal danger. It's related to his backstory stuff but honestly the entire thing felt unnecessary. I don't think it was poorly implemented but its not something I thought i want in this manga.

TLDR: Good manga, I was upset at the lack of hype from the first 2 arcs in the 3rd and 4th arc however the last arc was solid and considering it ends in a solid note, I guess i'll let this get away with a 7/10. Also their is a reddit mod moment.

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Aug 19, 2015

dayumane

Mixed Feelings

!!!WARNING MILD SPOILERS!!!

Summary: Good series with feel-good elements. If you want realistic reactions then it all goes downhill in the final arc. -2 points for the final arc. Worth reading but prepare for disappointment towards the end.

Edit: The ending arc ticked me off which affected my review, so here is an updated review.

If you are a fan of good-hearted naive main characters then this is for you. If you are more realistic and is not a fan of soft hearted and naive MCs (to the detriment of other people) then this is not for you. If you are a believer in that people can change ... for the better and getting a second chance, then you will enjoy this series. The series was enjoyable up until probably around chapter 100, until the final arc took place.

What ruined the story was essentially the soft and naive main character. While he is actually quite sharp, there is a limit to how much you can forgive. He is quite powerful and is able to beat people up despite his looks. Throughout the series, they hinted at a dark past that he had as "atonement". What was actually revealed was actually quite disappointing and extremely brief. There is a very small supernatural aspect to this series related to the MC, where the MC has a ability to tell if someone is going to get murdered.

The last arc is what ruined the series. It focused more heavily on drama and left a bitter taste in my mouth, in a bad way. A criminal mastermind that controls the underlings through digital means causes rampant crime, from arson, assault, and even multiple homicides. Of course our MC detective manages to solve the case, and acts with naive a bleeding heart. Even though his friends were victims of this criminal group, just when you think the perpetrator behind the incidents gets his just desserts, the MC takes a bullet for him (literally).

All is forgiven by our benevolent MC and they all live happily ever after. Our MC believes in people no matter what and will defend them even if they kill him or his friends, as long as they are juveniles of course. There is a limit to what can be forgiven, and this series just does not believe that some people are already evil even as juveniles. The final arc approached this limit and the characters did not have realistic reactions at all. In fact, I think it stresses more on having sympathy for the perpetrators (as long as they are juveniles) rather than the victims or their families no matter how heinous the crime. Throughout the series I started to respect the MC, but that all went out the window in the final arc.

What could've been a pretty good series is ruined by the final arc, where the characters seem to be missing the brain processes required for realistic reactions to wrongdoings. The ending also does not tie up loose ends. Other than the main culprit, the other murderers and criminals are never shown to be caught. The other arcs were pretty entertaining, and it had me hooked until the finish.

-2 points for the final arc

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