Onidere

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_____THE PLOT_____
Ive read other romance, comedy, school type mangas and they end up being clichéd. They use the SAME old formula, having the sports day, christmas party, bake-sale, festival and field trip mini-arcs. Well, onidere is a bit different. It doesn't focus on those solely. Also, onidere has no classroom scenes. So its different. It basically centred on scenes outside the classroom e.g on the rooftop.

Most of the manga consists of mini-arcs which show:
How Saya and Tadashi deal with a certain situation
How 2 other specific characters interact with each other
The weird adventures of Saya, Tadashi and gang

The romance isn't the major part of the ... manga. The romance just provides a plot and then the comedy ensues. There aren't many heavy romance scenes. However, the mangaka is consistent and you DO get a sense of direction and the feeling that the story is progressing. Its not as if the story is stuck on a certain stage at some point. It keeps flowing.

The one thing that stands out are the fresh scenarios. I would say that very little of the story is similar to your mainstream comedy, romance, school types.

_____THE COMEDY_____
Its mainly slapstick comedy with a lot of gags. Some people can find that as repetitive and get bored but some may laugh on the gag each time. I'll tell you this, DON'T read like 20 chapters in a day because it WILL get boring. Mo

_____THE CHARACTERS_____
There isn't much character development. There are some changes in Yuna, Saya and Tadashi but everyone else pretty much remains the same. This is not a bad thing because i found everyone funny and didn't want them to change.

We also get introduced to a fair amount of other funny characters e.g Tadashi's mom who forms and alliance with someone in Saya's gang.

_____THE ART_____
Its slightly different, not your traditional type. Some people have complained that the mangaka was lazy but i kinda liked the new style.

_____MY IMPRESSION OF IT_____
Its hilariously funny once u get used to it. I found it fresh and felt how I felt like when I watched School Rumble, the only difference was that Onidere keeps the romance in the story flowing. School Rumble has virtually no progression in romance. Onidere's logic gets ridiculous at times.....but in a funny and exciting way! :D It will seem to drag a bit for the first 5-15 chapters but I promise that it picks up its pace after that. But then again, we find this problem with many other mangas too because we need to be properly introduced to the characters.

So read 5-10 chapters, give it a shot and see if you like it! :D

After 16 chapters, I have to admit this would have to be the first manga I've had to put on my sh*t/dropped list

I've read a fair bit of manga in my life and whether it be for the plot of the story, or the artwork, I normally tend to keep reading to the very end regardless of genre but I just could not sit through and read this one.

It started out with the right elements to being a good read with the whole 'dorky guy dates yandere girl' setting....but after 5 chapters into it the humor become repetitive and after chapter 10 you realize there ... may never ever be a plot

The artwork is not manga worthy and feels like each story was rushed just to meet some deadline. If anything, the chapters remind me of the funny comics strips you read in newspapers when I was a kid.

I guess I'm not doing this manga any justice as I've only read 16 chapters(and I hear there's about 80 chapters and still going) but you be the judge....

When reading about romance, readers expect to see romance; that much is obvious. When reading about comedy, readers expect to see comedy; that much is obvious. When these two genres combine into a single story, people expect it to be endearing, especially when the romance is between two younger people of society. With as much pressure as one is to withstand with this type of combination, it's a wonder why any writer would want to combat a monster such as this. Onidere is one of these monsters. Onidere is a manga that tries its best at combining a typical plotline with blueprint characters involved in ... romance, comedy, and a little drama to spice it up toward the end.

Tadashi and Saya are the two players who take on the role of the endearing young couple within the Onidere universe. Saya is a well-known leader of a yakuza-type gang along with her henchmen, Momotsuki, Mitsuki, and Yuna, and hopes to attain her reputation as a fearful leader with devil-like powers. Tadashi is a boy who doesn't like the spotlight, and would rather spend time in the knitting club than to get involved with violent situations. Onidere opens with a twist of fate: Saya and Tadashi are dating, and Saya doesn't want anyone to know about it. So much so that she's willing to commit a murder/suicide scenario to withhold her reputation. With this in mind, Tadashi hopes to keep his distance from her, while trying to develop his relationship with her at the same time. One could say that a challenge such as this with his life at stake is too much for a middle school boy to take. Usually, one would be right, but this is Onidere.

One thing that can be said about this manga is that it's dedicated to its characters. Each and every character who is introduced at any point in the manga are rewarded with their own backstory, along with a continued presence throughout the series. The only issue with this is that, starting out, all of these characters seem incomplete. With the plot trying to develop through the first ten to fifteen chapters, the minor characters' only purpose within the story is to serve as obstacles for Tadashi and Saya's relationship. This being said, it doesn't show much attention to their individual personalities, and the charm of the series is lackluster without everything out for show. However, when Tadashi and Saya's relationship is revealed to those close to the two, the story begins to flourish. The characters' whims and inability (or refusal) to grow into natural characters are what make Onidere one of the most enjoyable manga I've ever happened to discover. Normally, repetition is looked down upon and serves as the downfall for what a story could be without it. However, with how preposterous Onidere's plotline is, repetition actually serves to improve the characters' overall likability. Onidere is one of those rare stories where all the characters are likable, to an extent.

So, with characters like these, the plot would prove to be just as successful, correct? While the characters are charming, as was stated earlier, the plot is preposterous. Multiple times throughout the story, feats are achieved by "normal human beings" that would prove to be impossible. Specifically with Saya, but is shown with others, feats of "demon-like strength" are exhibited as if only natural to a girl's growth. There are also plenty of signs about Saya and Tadashi's hidden relationship that are obvious to point out. Students could easily conclude such a relationship between the two seeing as though they're always the only ones missing from their individual classrooms everyday, as the couple eat their lunch everyday on the school's rooftop. Saya also gets red in the face whenever she's placed right next to Tadashi, but this could also just be a modern Asian woman's inability to cope with physical contact. Aside from speculation, some of the plots that arise in Onidere are also hard to comprehend and are resolved with elements that are just as confusing. With this manga being a comedy, it doesn't take itself too seriously. One could say it doesn't know how to be serious. The ending could probably justify this claim.

Onidere's art is truly the epitome of the phrase "an acquired taste." The art within the manga, like the characters, is unfocused to start off. The character designs are more like rough sketches and the backgrounds are faded. Continuing on, one could say that the art of the manga could start to grow on them, but I tend to believe that, with the manga's popularity at the time, the mangaka grew more confident with their story and became more focused on drawing good quality lines. The characters become more concrete, and objects and locations used for gags become more clear and memorable to the reader. The only real flaw with the style of animation is that it isn't sexy enough to really pull in any looming romantic looking for a sweet story. Onidere is portrayed more as a comedy than anything else.

While initially Onidere may seem passable, the manga begins to shine later on due to a sense of familiarity. The characters come into their own, the art starts to settle, and the plot remains unfocused all throughout. Onidere is a quality manga in terms of comedy, as the shaky plot conveniences could turn off some, but the payoff is enough to seduce any lover of nonsense. What comes back to hurt this manga is its attempt at full-blown drama, which only feels unnecessary after so many chapters of comical know-how. Onidere is a monster made with the intent to entertain the readers who choose to read it. While it may do that, the impact it has may differ upon an individual's preferences. This story is great at one thing and one thing only: dividing a crowd.

guy who is soft, girl who is delinquent, they date, its a secret, hijinks ensue... that sums the whole thing up.

story wise, don't look for anything substantial.
the art fits the story better than anything else they could have done
the characters, are interesting... they have some amount of depth and evolution considering this manga is presented in a step above 4 panel gag manga.

but my enjoyment of this manga hinges on the fast that i love go nowhere gag manga stories, so long as they aren't things like bobobo bobo bobobobo

if you can handle a story where there is no real story on a chapter to ... chapter basis, than this is great. if you can handle random curve balls, even better.

and even if you dont like them, you have to be truly jaded to not at least like this enough to read to completion.

Gather 'round, for I will tell you a story about a manga so horrible that it made kittens spontaneously combust out of horror.

I will spare you the reasons and give you the verdict right now, this absolute shit. I have never stumbled across anything quite like this. Reading this makes my stomach turn and my ancestors roll over in their graves.

The story is that the most timid guy imaginable has a secret relationship with the leader of the female gang of delinquents, and she therefore has to keep up her image which leads to supposedly comical situations. That's it in a nutshell.

The author is very ... much alike the poor contestants applying for Idol each year. You know, those that sing like Britney Spears knows geography, e.g. horribly. As soon as you see the first page, you are instantly struck by how horribly drawn the manga is. I've seen kindergartners draw at that level. I was hoping that it would improve over time, but it seems like the author is busy staring at his navel instead of actually looking at the crap he's drawing.

Each unfolding episode is equally terrible. The story in itself is not so bad, but the author has no clue as to how to properly structure the story, and instead just tries to pile chaotic jokes onto each other. The result would be like emptying the entire contents of a fridge into a pot, which is an complete mess. It might have helped a bit if the jokes were actually funny, but they unfortunately aren't. Each chapter is incredibly dull and boring and makes me want to headbutt a porcupine.

Don't read this. Save the pain for some time when you'll actually experience it for a good reason. You'll have a hard time finding a larger pile of shit than this. But let's be honest. It can't be that easy for the author to write a good manga when his head is stuck so far up his ass that the Midgard Serpent is put to shame.

When I first read the chapter 00 oneshot, I thought it was really funny and that it had potential. That was 3 days ago. After that, I began reading the manga and without realizing it, I already caught up to chapter 86, today.

This by far is one of the best mangas I've read in a long time as the story just feels more fresh compared to similar in these genres. I mean, secret lovers, a delinquent with a mellow side, a more than unexpected student council (normal but weird in their own way) and the non-violent hero of the story. This manga has ... so much to enjoy it.

It may not be for everyone, but IMHO, it is definitely worth reading as the plot thickens on each chapter. Hopefully, some anime house will pick this up this year.

I am not one to rain on someone’s parade but….. this manga was God-awful. Yes I did finish it after dropping it a few times, but what an awful waste of time.
I will take it that you are familiar with the story, so what you see in the first few 5 chapters essentially repeats itself through the end. Not only did the characters show no growth, but they were completely one sided. I was trying to figure if maybe I don’t fall in the target audience but there were too many sexual innuendos and too many girl on girl references /suggestive activity for ... a young girl audience. Young girls are the only group that would really read something that’s not worthwhile.
Romance is really non-existent, the fights are not good. The characters were not funny, and Onidere didn’t have that special something that would suck a reader into caring about its characters. The ending was a mess, it seemed like the author rushed through writing each chapter and to top it all off it seemed that the story found no resolution. I don’t suggest reading this one, there are plenty other manga choices that would be much better.
I gave it a 3 becasue the author could draw fairly decent.

This manga has a decent plot and some solid characters, but it seems to get bogged down by a number of issues. The first is that there are a bunch of sub plots that don’t seem to advance things in any meaningful way. I suppose that the intention was that the comedy would be enough to support these, however the comedy starts getting somewhat repetitive as it goes on, so it isn’t enough. In addition, while I think the story of the main couple was quite good, with good character development and great relationship development, and the various things surrounding this relationship such as Saki ... being involved in the love triangle or the key fight with suitors greatly helped with that, but the various other romance plots that didn’t have any contributions to the main couple felt unneeded, as they ultimately didn’t really amount to much. Taking all of that into account, I think there was an incredibly solid story in there looking at holistically, but it simply dragged on too long without enough happening at points, making it somewhat of a slog to read at times. Still, where it mattered it came to a pretty satisfying end, albeit one that felt a bit too short. I would also like to point out that I usually don’t mind inconsistencies, but some of the ones here that popped up between chapters were pretty glaring. The art was only decent.

A solid story but one that gets incredibly slow quite often.

7/10