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Boruto is neither great, nor has potential to be great, since after the story of Naruto ended, there wasn't really any need to continue.

The Good:
- the legacy of Kishimoto's writing is somewhat still there

- seeing characters from the original Naruto story

- some characters like Sarada and Orochimaru's son

The Bad:
... - it's a monthly, yet doesn't have the potential or justification to be one

- scientific ninja tools don't sit well with the Naruto universe - they feel and behave like cheap gimmicks and deus ex machinas which break the plot rather than enhancing it

- the art is inconsistent and a little unfinished compared to the original; sometimes body proportions are off

- there is hardly any sense of tension, because random powers out of nowhere automatically resolve every problem

- the new powers (karma, Code, etc.) make absolutely no sense and feel out-of-place in the Naruto universe

- Naruto, Sasuke and the other from the old generation being completely underpowered to the point it's sad

- the addition of digitalization which is cheaply used to explain every plot point, with zero foreshadowing

It feels like the only good points about Boruto are related to the Naruto-nostalgia factor. As a standalone product it's not that good and suffers from issues other average shounen series have - justifications for plot point are surface-level deep and power-scaling is all over the place.

I honestly don't want to write a long essay about this series, because it's not worth anyone's time - neither writing nor reading it.

The Good:
- the initial premise of the story (rental girlfriend)

- the art is fairly consistent and slightly above other manga in the same genre

- some characters like Sumi and granny Nagoya are genuinely funny

The Bad:
... - badly written, unlikable characters with difficult to relate to motivations (always silent Chizuru, constantly hating Mami, etc.)

- constantly reminding readers how hot the female characters are, which should be obvious not only through art (showing), but also after the first couple chapters

- lack of substantial plot development despite there being a lot of ground that needs to be covered (Chizuru's past, her motivations to become a rental girlfriend, etc.)

- following the rules of a soap opera, but lacking any sort of "edge" that soap operas are known for

- squandering panels every week on ticking off boxes:
- surprised Pikachu faces from the cast
- Kazuya constantly overthinking simple situations
- the female characters being hot
- Kazuya "trying" to confess, but failing
- Chizuru running to the toilet

What's the most sad about Kanokari is that the story itself has potential, but the mangaka would rather waste that potential by under-delivering and over-promising every week rather than develop the story.

Kanokari is easily the worst rom-com manga I have ever read and even some key scenes in the latest chapters were just underwhelming and forced.

I genuinely wanted to give Wonder Egg Priority more than 7, but it's very difficult considering how many things it gets wrong. My review will contain spoilers so it's clearer what's wrong with it and also a general trigger warning to people who are dealing with issues like suicide or gender identity as they might find the show a little unsettling.

**Story [6/10]**
The story is one of the strongest aspects of Wonder Egg Priority, but also the weakest. The main plot line and the later plot twist towards the end are honestly intriguing, even though they don't get properly fleshed out.

However, the narrative is a ... complete mess. There are times when the show comes across as an oversimplified story about girls going through various regular childhood traumas and is a little inappropriately upbeat. Other times, it fails to elaborate on genuinely concerning issues like suicide, pedophilia, bullying, etc. These are often brushed aside, which I find very unsettling. It also doesn't help that as the show slowly moves towards its conclusion, plot points are not closed, but either rendered moot by the characters or new ones are needlessly opened and never closed.

**Art [9/10]**
There are rare moments when animation frames connect a little uncleanly, but in general the art direction and overall visuals are simply stunning.

**Sound [9/10]**
The OP and ED songs are very nostalgic and fit the show perfectly. The overall ambience during the show is also on point.

**Characters [9/10]**
After Art, the strongest facet of Wonder Egg Priority. The story follows the lives of 4 girls who suffer from various very real traumas:
Neiru - a girl who was effectively "created" through artificial insemination. Her very existence is devoid of meaning and as the show progresses, she slowly discovers meaning in the form of friendships with the other girls.

Rika - a former junior idol whose mother is a raging alcoholic and a vamp. She doesn't have a father and is filled with a strong sense of resentment and disillusionment towards adults, but doesn't hate her mother nor father. A part of her growth is self-acceptance and the acceptance of her mother as family.

Momoe - a girl who prefers a more masculine appearance even though her identity is fully female. She struggles with the way she is perceived by others and I think she is given quite some justice in the show.

Ai - the main protagonist, but also the least fleshed out character. Her trauma is bullying, loss of a dear friend and fear of a teacher who might've been a pedophile. Unfortunately, her decisions often seem random and her growth is very forced. She eventually gets over the loss of her friend, but never receives closure which she herself discards (why? wasn't that her raison d'etre for the majority of the show?). Apparently, she also realizes she harbors romantic feelings for the mentioned teacher as suggested earlier by Neiru. Where does this even come from? The narrative suggests otherwise and this idea is very badly shoehorned.

**Overall [7/10]**
Wonder Egg Priority was a beautiful project and it's a shame that it wasn't delayed in favor of fleshing it out and focusing on certain issues more. It doesn't receive a proper conclusion either as the final episode doesn't explain almost anything. I hope it gets picked up at some point as a manga serialization.

I noticed a number of negative reviews for this so I think it's a good idea to understand who the target audience is here - young teenagers. There are certainly some slightly thought-provoking bits, but Konomini is by no means groundbreaking.

**Story**:
A bit of a hit and miss.

On the plus side, it tries to emphasize how life is always linked to death, both as an unfortunate consequence of certain events and as something that happens to all living organisms (hence, the title of the anime?). Also, the cycle of life and seasons is something completely natural and takes time. Snow comes in Winter, Sun comes ... in Summer. It sounds obvious, but it's nice to see an anime which focuses on this.

The downside is that we have some plot lines which are not entirely relevant - random super powers and an oversimplified lesson on evolution. Yes, again, target audience. The ending could've been better as well - a little less predictable maybe.

**Art**:
Fairly generic early 2000s. As others have said, nothing to write home about.

**Characters:**
A 7/10. Interesting, but a little flat. I was expecting a little more from the main male protagonist, but then again, the series has only 13 episodes.

**Enjoyment**
It made me sad towards the end so that's a good sign, but overall it's really a 7/10 kind of material. It's entertaining, somewhat thought-provoking, but could've been a lot more.

Before writing this review I thought quite a bit and it would be difficult for me to give Video Girl Ai a score lower than 9. The manga is simply that good. I'll try to break it down a bit.

**Story**
This is arguably the weakest aspect of Video Girl Ai. For the first ~20 chapters it's a beautiful story of finding love in the most unlikely of places and overcoming one's weaknesses for that love. Later, however, the manga somehow loses focus and bounces around more episodically, until we reach the well-deserved conclusion. This decrease in focus and shifts in narrative kind of undermine the finale, ... because at least I wasn't 100% convinced by it. Past the end we have an extra, unrelated volume with a second story - equally heart-warming and beautiful.

**Art**
The most prominent point. The art is simply stunning. Great focus on character design, especially clothing (very nostalgic 80-90s vibes) and lots of zoom-ins on faces. Close-ups are used to portray slight changes in the emotions of characters. That, coupled with a brilliant use of illumination, just works. It's not only convincing, but also naturally evokes strong emotions.

**Characters**
Very human and relatable. The main protagonist is a teenager who honestly struggles with puberty, but also with the kindness of his heart. He's not a people\s pleaser, but genuinely kind. Unfortunately, this kindness often brings him sadness as it's not possible to give love to everyone. The main issue I find with him and partially the story is that as the narrative progresses, it's less and less clear what the main protagonist really wants from life. Who does he really care about the most? He professes love to girl A, but then he's equally in love with girl B and the entire narrative and the motivations of characters align with it.

The rest of the cast is equally believable. The girls are naive at times, but also strong-willed. Oddly, there is only 1 villain, who is less of a villain and more of a plot device, because his intentions aren't always clear.

**Enjoyment**
I struggled to put the manga away and often dreamt about it. I honestly enjoyed it.

**Overall**
Yes, it's a 9, despite my complaints. The manga is definitely worth a read :).

I'll try to keep my review brief as I think other reviewers have done this manga quite some justice already.

Aku no Hana is a story of 3 children (Kasuga Takao, Nakamura Sawa and Saeki Nanako) who struggle through puberty and later their teenage years, trying to find meaning in life. Takao doesn't have any sense of self-worth and tries to fill the void in his heart with literature. Sawa is tragically afraid of boredom and loathes normalcy to the point of being violent and rude to others. Saeki craves acceptance and is unsatisfied with the grayness of her everyday life, which she spends adhering to ... the expectations of her environment. All 3 form a very special bond, because in different ways they seek the same thing - something that would give their life "color".

**Story**
Kasuga Takao is the main protagonist and for most of the manga we follow his toils. In a way one could consider his life and thus the plot dull, but it is not so. It makes the story the more relatable, because we've all been a Takao at some point in our lives. There is no grand goal in mind, just people and their emotional struggles.

**Art**
Characters are depicted very naturally and display a whole range of emotions. Sometimes, the emotions are hidden, behind a look or a smile, but you can see them in the eyes of the characters. Interestingly, the mangaka uses a lot of gray, perhaps to emphasize how life is full of different shades and the importance of illumination. There is also this permeating sense of gloom and dread and the reader is left expecting the worst.

**Characters**
The protagonists are extremely real and relatable. They live, they have their ups and downs, and though it might seem like their lives are not exactly spectacular, they resonate with the reader strongly.

**Enjoyment**
I enjoyed the manga very much. In fact, I was so engrossed that I binged it in the span of 2 days.

One last thing I would like to mention is the ending. To me personally it is totally worth the read and I was genuinely impressed by how well the mangaka handled it. In stories like this, the ending is very likely to disappoint the reader or affect him in a tremendously negative way. That's not how I felt after reading Aku no Hana.

I am looking forward to more works from Oshimi Shuuzou.

First of, this is my first MAL review so please, bear with me a little :).
If you're not familiar with the works of Okada-sensei and don't know what to expect from this title, I recommend reading his previous work, Sundome, which is very similar in tone, themes and of course art. If you've read it, do know that the level of perversion shown in Ibitsu is even greater :p.

**Art**
Starting out with art, I think it's a major step-up from Sundome in both character designs and the use of illumination to accentuate mood. All characters are very nicely drawn and each is distinct. Okada-sensei has a ... very unusual style, especially prevalent among the female cast. He's also very apt at drawing out the subtleties of facial expressions. You may not like the art style, though, as it's fairly bleak, full of contrasts and white space, but that of course adds to the overall mood of the manga.

**Characters**
The cast is fairly small, but because of this each character is convincingly unique with their own humanly real goals and motivations. Interestingly, Okada-sensei doesn't deal in stereotypes so it's difficult to make references to works other than his own. Madoka resembles Kurumi from Sundome in guise, but their dispositions differ slightly. Kakiguchi is in a way similar to Aiba, but his motivations are completely different. Madoka's school friend, Meg is the slightly jealous BFF who admires the main female protagonist, at the same time feels inferior to her. As in to match the tone of the manga, each character is psychologically broken. Kakiguchi is unable to form an intimate relationship with people due to supposed past trauma and prefers onaholes instead of real women, Madoka is a sadist who enjoys and gets aroused by tormenting Kakiguchi, while Tou sensei is perhaps one of the most despicable characters in the series.

**Story (SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!)**
Ibitsu is mostly about the strange relationship between Moritaka Madoka, a 16-year-old high school girl whose parents divorced and are fighting over her custody and a young-looking 22-year-old sex shop clerk, Kakiguchi Keigo. Madoka is disillusioned and has no faith in people other than her best friend, Meg. Meanwhile, Keigo lives a day-to-day non-existence of little importance, but has a dream to make high quality sex dolls. The story picks up when Madoka moves in with Keigo to find sadistic entertainment at his cost, mocking him for not having any sex drive, but their relationship steadily develops into something more meaningful as the story progresses.

**Finale (MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!)**
I know the general rule is to avoid spoilers, but I think my reflections might be valuable to people who read the story and are struggling to understand it fully.

The reason why my score for Ibitsu oscillates between 8 and 9, is because in my opinion the story is not finished. The way the relationship between Madoka and Keigo was developing throughout the manga suggested that it can go either way and the mangaka is not sure himself. There were clear indications that their relationship can finally become mutually romantic as Keigo slowly started opening up to Madoka and she already sacrificed a lot, including her dignity to protect him, demonstrating that she does in fact love him. Honestly, that would've been beautiful and would've made for a truly satisfying conclusion. But there were also moments like their quarrel about the color of the doll's nipples and the time when Madoka noticed that Keigo is fascinated by her not as a mate, but as a model for his doll. In the end, nothing is finished. Keigo doesn't complete his doll (the eyes, among other things are missing) and Madoka dies in a train accident shortly before meeting him. It's a real shame, because the story could've been so much more.