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If you are looking for a manga that fits the textbook definition of "aged like milk," then this is it.

Before I dive into the criticisms, I must first sing the manga's praises. The art is some of the best I have ever seen; I didn't even know that this was possible with pen and ink alone. The intricacies of different settings, the sleekness of motorcycles, the beautiful backdrops, all have been captured effectively by the mangaka's immense artistic talent. GTO also brings attention to sensitive topics that plague high school kids. Most manga even until now try to avoid bringing up these issues.

However, that's ... about where my praises end.

Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) is a manga series that was published from 1996 to 2002. Much like all media that came out during that time, there are many humor and comedic elements that fall flat on its face. In many cases, a lot of the jokes are wildly unentertaining. I have also learned the valuable lesson of not taking a MyAnimeList rating at face value.

Earlier, I praised GTO for touching on sensitive topics most manga tend to avoid. However, I never mentioned that it did it WELL. In fact, the biggest issue I have with this manga is the extremely rapey nature. Before I begin, I would like to clarify that the perverted actions of characters are NEVER portrayed positively in this manga. But, it's literally contradictory; Onizuka is evidently illustrated as the protagonist when he is saving his students in a pinch. However, his willingness to profusely look up the skirts of underaged girls and getting weird with them is downright freaky. It's like antihero writing gone wild.

Rather than using topics such as sexual assault and rape to provide social commentary, the author of GTO uses them as if they were a goddamned literary device. I'm not going to dive too deep into this, but it's pretty clear from the first few arcs that there is a lot of crazy stuff involving Onizuka and underaged girls. Particularly, there were even entire chapters dedicated to the different techniques teachers from Holy Forest Academy would use for the purpose of peeping and groping women on trains. When the author leaned heavily on using rapey devices to create shock and humor, it just felt pointless, aimless and aged terribly.

I feel like a big offender in the back of my mind was the absolutely unnecessary scene involving a girl and a couple of her other friends. The author chose to illustrate underaged schoolgirls tied up in a hotel room surrounded by old naked men with the intention to repeatedly rape them. Of course, they were saved by Onizuka, but the entire ordeal being used as a literary device was so incredibly unnecessary. Another example was when Onizuka was getting revenge against these schoolgirls for sexually assaulting a boy, so he ties them up and pulls their underwear down and writes on their butts while they're sobbing. These things happen over and over again throughout the next hundred or so chapters of the manga.

Something else I wanted to touch on is how horribly out of touch the manga is. Sometimes, the conflict resolution felt too abrupt, making me think "Seriously? That's it?" In particular, there was a scene where a girl confesses that she was raped by several men, and right after that Onizuka makes her kiss another guy and somehow everything was fine after that. Like.. what? The author spends plenty of time in the buildup and giving each character a tragic backstory, but it feels like some conflicts are patched up in a matter of a few pages which not only does a disservice to these characters, but the social issues that the manga is trying to portray as well.

I love a manga that does character development well, and Onizuka had no character development. As for the students, their character development was okay at best. Onizuka already starts off as a really strong guy with no sense of shame and some degree of morals, and that stays relatively static throughout the entire story. The only thing that was different about him is that he came to like the students and realized that teaching isn't about the money. Other than that, do not read GTO expecting great character development. The author only shows off what Onizuka has always been capable of for 200+ chapters.

The ending's criticism can vary from person to person, but I personally don't think it's the best. It felt like any other arc in the many repetitive arcs GTO presents to the readers. Rather than tying up the overall story in a nice knot, we are really left not knowing what becomes of the characters afterwards. This coincides with my earlier argument that conflict resolution in GTO is not great.

While I acknowledge that this manga is not for everyone, I personally could not ever bring myself to recommend this to a friend. Overall, the manga's fantastic art does not make up for the crude humor, outdated writing and the utter lack of Onizuka's character development. I do not recommend this manga.

Every time Matsuda-sensei releases new chapter of this manga, I cast a forlorn glance at my toaster bath and mutter "not today either, old friend."

Houkago Kitaku Biyori is a slice-of-life romance manga that doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel. However, what does make this manga stand out is how likeable the male lead is. Typically in a lot of romance manga, if the male lead does end up being well-received, it's usually due to him being the textbook definition of a Chad. Shun isn't afraid to be upfront about his feelings; although, his strong desire to play soccer also elicits weakness that he isn't afraid ... to show to his senpai, Chokki-chan (Naoki Satou).

Chokki-chan is an interesting girl that constantly expresses a strong desire to go home. She ends up dragging Shun around on her antics and becomes increasingly curious about him. Throughout the story of Houkago Kitaku Biyori, while she always wants to make new discoveries on the journey home after school, she realizes that she wants to make more discoveries about Shun as well.

The artwork of the manga is done extremely well, and fits the tone the author is trying to set. Matsuda-sensei's drawings brings out a feeling of nostalgia across the pages. By doing so, it is able to effectively capture Shun's kindness and Chokki's bumbling behavior.

Overall, this manga is extremely cute and drama-free. It's just about two high schoolers going about their lives, not afraid of expressing affection for one another while we watch their feelings unfold and develop. Matsuda-sensei did a masterful job of capturing what youth feels like. As of writing, there are only 36 chapters. Why not give this short and sweet manga a shot? You might find yourself asking for more.

If you are looking for a light, casual and entertaining romance read, then this manga is for you. Although the story is generic and the characters are too, it has its moments where the characters do unexpected things. The main character also has his own trauma and struggles, and the author does not hide his emotions and displays it instead. This allows for more depth and flavor to the story.

Other reviewers have mentioned that this manga is similar to Masamune-kun no Revenge. Though the plot does share a similar rags-to-riches concept, it adds its own spin. The art is fantastic and the characters are interesting ... enough. Why not give it a try?

Something that surprises me is that the rating is so low. I refuse to believe that this manga deserved to be placed on the same tier as Rent-a-Peak (formerly known as Rent-a-Girlfriend, or Ass-and-Trash). Don't let the ratings stop you from giving this manga a go!

It's good to see that the author's writing is still ass.

Coming from Domestic Girlfriend, it is definitely a significant downgrade. It's another story about several girls who have basic character tropes about them falling in love with a basic self-insert main character that has no depth to him, other than knowing what to say at the right times like a robot. Otherwise, he's bland as hell. There's more depth in the erotic scenes than the actual story itself.

I'm shocked that the author is female, because I am still fully convinced that only a sweaty incel would conjure this storm within the confines of his ... mother's basement.

Taiyou no Ie is definitely a remarkable work that separates itself from others. Yes, it is a romance manga, but it is also a story about slowly rebuilding interpersonal relationships, something that a lot of manga won't put full focus on. It was really fascinating seeing how everyone is connected, slowly start becoming accepting of others and eventually themselves as well.

As you might have guessed, what prevents me from giving this the perfect score is the age of the protagonist and her main love interest. Mao is a 17 year old high school student, while Hiro is a 24 year old office worker. And of ... course, they start getting romantic with one another. Essentially, Hiro groomed the shit out of her. Furthermore, they've had this sibling dynamic since they were children. This relationship switching into romantic one is also ethically questionable.

The bitter truth is that this relationship is weird, to say the very least. Especially with one of the main characters being an S-tier, major league professional child groomer. Even with these downsides, Taiyou no Ie is still a unique manga with banger romance sequences, complex relationships, and many heartwarming stories to share. If you can accept the fact that this is a work of fiction and bear with classic Japanese media being classic Japanese media (forbidden/taboo relationships, pedophilia and incest), then you should give it a try.

I give this manga a 9/10.

Darling in the FranXX is definitely an anime that was very weird at first, but I gradually got lost and immersed into the dystopia that was created. It seemed like a bad ecchi at first (lots and lots of exposure), but then it slowly assimilated into necessary scenes of contact and intimacy, an area the parasites were never allowed to explore.

The story design is abstract and subtle, but the unconscious effect was greater than expected. Sometimes, the anime would place black bars to offer a more cinematic and serious narration, coupled with a motif of wingless birds to introduce romance. Subtle storytelling makes for ... great storytelling. although the story itself is lackluster, and the pace completely changes towards the end.

Opening 2 is by far the better opening out of this season. So many things happening at once, and it pretty much spoils the entire story, especially with Zero Two turning into the sakura petals Hiro had once related her to.

A percentage of the fanbase were unhappy with the ending, but personally, I was fine with it. It was beautiful, and even more so since it was going to happen all over again.

The reason why the rating is so low is that Miku and Zorome never smashed. Absolutely disgusting. 0/10