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Money is good. Money is great! Tokyo Ghoul :re is the proof of it. The proof that popularity makes the manga most of the time. Ishida Sui (the author) sold his soul to the money devil, and along with it went Tokyo Ghoul, RIP. Not that I blame him, I mean, he must definitely be wiping his tears in money right now.

Disappointing, disappointing, disappointing. That describes Tokyo Ghoul:re.
I am someone that began reading the original back in the beginning. So we have definitely come a long way. And I can say proudly that Tokyo Ghoul, the original is a masterpiece. Amazing. Fantastic. *Insert similar adjective*. ... I loved everything about it.

But this, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. This, is shit. If we compare it to the plethora of garbage out there, sure, it is ok i guess. But if we compare it to the original, than :re is bad.

Story meh, characters meh, art bad in some aspects (though not all). And now that this is popular, terrible community.

The thing is, Ishida seems to have reached a consensus with his team. Crazy characters = awesome. The story is pathetically predicable now. Just random arcs with crazy people appearing left and right. Not to mention ass pulls. You know Ishida, the whole go crazy after torture and gain power up worked once. You can stop now ok?
Yes that's right Ishida found his magic formula and is rolling along with it. Damn you money!!! Anyway, here it is:

Step 1: Get one of your characters
Step 2: Make them seem relatively happy
Step 3: plot twist
Step 4: Character actually has a dark and sad past
Step 5: Torture them or something similar
Step 6: Is the character already crazy? If yes, then make them more crazy. If no, just make them crazy
Step 7: make their hair go white
Step 8: make them super crazy strong
Step 9: make 15 year old teens across the globe squeal, because they think they are super mature and cool by reading this dark edgy stuff.
Step 10: ???
Step 11: Profit. (literally in this case)
Step 12: Repeat from step 1.

That is how predicable :re has become. Ishida now seems to just be doing stuff to please fanboys. Pick any character. There is a pretty good chance they are fucked up in the head. woooooo so fun, so dark, so smart.

But I gotta admit, if this was Ishida's plan all along he has earned my respect. He has so thoroughly brain washed his audience, that anything he does is seen as "OMFG KANEKI KYAAAAA!! ISHIDA SO SMART!! TOKYO GHOUL BEST MANGAZ!!". And if you say anything it is always "OMG YOU STUPID GO READ SHONEN! DERP THIS IS TRAGEDY MANGA DERP!".

And this is all sad, remember that I was someone that loved this manga... Oh how the mighty have fallen...

I can't even go ahead and say which category made :re worse. It is now a convoluted mess, each category bringing the other down. A plethora of new characters that sprout out of nowhere just to make more fodder. Instead of reusing good developed characters, it is apparently a good idea to disregard most of them, introduce a bazillion of new ones and develop 6 of them. Some of the old side characters haven't even re-appeared yet. Pretty sure Ishida forgot about them.

This flood of new characters just helps bring the story down since there are so many new characters you can barely get their names. And no, I'm not going to re-read the chapters 5 times just to try to get who is who. A good manga like original Tokyo Ghoul only had me reading the chapter once to understand everything. This is not thick plot. This is bad writing.

One example of the characters bringing the story down are the random grunts from each side that serve just as fodder. Some of them have less than 3 pages dedicated to them, yet have whole fucking chapters showing their super sad past, right before they die. Why even? What is the point? Do you think anybody cares?

Speaking of bad, art got a lot worse in fighting scenes. Now it is just a drawing mess with blurs appearing in each fighting panel. I'm going to be completely honest. I barely understand what is going on most of the time. And no again fans, no, I'm not going to read the same chapters 15 times.

But it is not all terrible. Art outside of battles did improve. It is amazing now I really like it. And although the story doesn't touch the original's feet, it still is better than most stuff out there. Also when :re does shows glimpses of the originals glory, damn, tears flows through my eyes remembering the good old times. But that is quickly fucked up by another character going batshit crazy.

Yeah sure, years and years of reading manga and watching anime made me grumpy and weary, But then again, it also made me achieve a state of nirvana in which I can distinguish masterpieces from disguised shit.

So, should you read this manga and are you going to like it? Well, honestly, if this wasn't a continuation but a stand alone, it would be ok. But it isn't is it? Still everyone should read it if they have nothing better to do.

But the real question is, are you going to like it? Well if you are a teen you will probably love it. If you like stories that characters get power ups because they go super batshit crazy but don't make sense, then you will also love it. If not, then no, you will find it "meh", so go read Golden Kamuy or something better.

I honestly do hope I end up editing this in the future, because I do want to enjoy this. I really do. But as of now. Nope. This is as of chapter 81.

Ah yes, the manga where everyone is a black ops special forces commando. The manga where action scenes are short but intense instead of dragging out for 3 chapters. The manga where drama lasts for 2 panels instead of a whole volume plus 30 chapters of unnecessary flashback. The manga where the puns and comedy parts are actually funny. The manga where characters are unique, believable, charismatic, and easy to like. Do I need to continue? The answer is yes. Because no amount of praise can honor the glory that is this manga.

Golden Kamui is a story about a war veteran, Sugimoto the Immortal, from ... the Russo-Japanese war that ends up hearing about a hidden treasure somewhere, that was stolen from the Ainu people. He then sets out to pursue this treasure for the woman he loves. Soon he meets up with an Ainu child called Aspira that has rights to the gold, and the two join up to find this gold and split it.

If it wasn't clear already, I'm going to lay it right out. I love this manga. It is amazing, I love everything about it, it's art, it's historical background, it's puns, the story keeps me engrossed, believe you me folks, this is one of the best manga out there. One of the super rare hidden gems in the gigantic pile of garbage that is everywhere in the manga world. And on that note, lets keep it that way shall we?

Story: 10/10

Golden Kamui is one of those manga that don't try to be more than what it is. The story doesn't try to create some grandiose scheme that involves the fate of Japan much less the world. In fact, the story being set in Hokkaido, it stays that way. Furthermore, only a couple of people know about the gold.

The leader of those bandits that stole the Ainu gold is the only one who knows where it actually is, and being arrested, he devises a plan to tattoo the location of the treasure in his fellow prisoners. While being transported, all those prisoners escape and are now all throughout Hokkaido.

And that leads us to the factions involved. Basically there are three factions trying to get their dirty hands on the gold. Sugimoto and company, the 7th division of the japanese army that is considered to be the elite of the elite, and the heroes of the bakumatsu (basically old samurai dudes). And how are they going to gather all the map fragments together? Well, that is simple, they just need to hunt down the prisoners and skin them. Because apparently that is the most natural thing to do since everyone arrived at the same conclusion.

The story has a good mix of seriousness and goofy moments. Puns are original and fit the setting very well. Every aspect of the story, be it action, drama, comedy, flashbacks, etc aren't longer than they need to be. Furthermore, the story doesn't rely on cheap tricks to make it interesting.

I wouldn't be doing the manga honor if I didn't mention the amount of research the author must have put into this. Throughout the manga, there will be several parts explaining Hokkaido at the time, the Ainu culture, way of life, tools, and specially the Ainu cuisine. If you were wandering why actions and drama parts that usually take 15 chapters to complete in other manga were short here, well, that is because it is more interesting to know that the brain and eyes of pretty much every single animal in Hokkaido is a delicacy according to the Ainu.

Characters: 10/10

Here is where this manga shines like a herd of unicorns flying through a rainbow. Characters are unique, with relatable motives even if they are not the most righteous. Furthermore the contrast between the characters is superb. Lets take the first and most obvious example between Sugimoto and Aspira.

Sugimoto the immortal is a war veteran that got his title because well, he was such a badass that he would go kill russians while being shot, stabbed, you name it. He was pretty much a God in the battlefield. So you can imagine the contrast when someone like him teams up with a little girl from an Ainu village. Not that Aspira isn't badass in her own right.

Furthermore Sugimoto is the good sort of badass protagonist. Not the generic badass but boring protagonists that most authors try to create.

While we are at it kids, remember when I said at the beginning that everyone in this manga was a commando? Well that's right, everyone is badass. Even the lowest nameless grunt that would be just meat in any other manga is a badass. How badass you ask? Well guess you will have to read it to find out ;) Lets just say that halfway thorough I was questioning myself, as I am sure you will too, "why is everyone in this mange so badass"?.

Going back to the motives why everyone wants the gold, well all of the motives are actually quite selfish with Sugimoto's being possibly the most selfish of them all. So there isn't really an antagonist here in the proper sense of the word. Not even a villain actually. It really depends in the point of view.

Art: 10/10

I usually don't like to dwell much on art because it is a matter of taste. But I really find the art of Golden Kamui unique. And not just the drawing. The expression that every character makes is really one of the selling points here. No amount of explanation here can exemplify how amazing it is. Just read it for yourself.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Seriously, this is the best manga that has come out in the last couple of years, and one of the best overall. I started reading this from chapter 5 and you have no idea how happy I am whenever a new chapter comes out.

Overall: 11/10

Alright kids, this manga seriously deserves more recognition. But not much more mind you. I don't want the popularity to affect the quality. So, if you were lucky enough to come across it, go read it, it is amazing, but don't tell any of your friends.

Ahhhh, how I love stories that go against the flow of the river like a beautiful school of salmon. In a type of media that seems to be swarming with Harem, RPG SAO wannabes and bad attempts at making something different, HakoMari certainly comes as a nice a gem. If you are tired of those types of stories, and want something different, or if you like some nice mystery with romance and some suspense, then this is light novel for you.

However, I believe there is just too much hype over this one. It is good, yes, it is great! But I think there are too ... many people just jumping on the 10/10 wagon, so I wish to bring another point of view as well. Over the course of this review, I will state why I gave this a 9/10.

Story: 9/10

Firstly, as I have said before, HakoMari is different. It is also hard to describe because it is a story that would be hard if not impossible to adapt to other type of media other than a light novel (so we probably won't be seeing any manga or anime adaptation, and if they try, it will suck. I guarantee it). That means that a lot of the descriptions going on in the story is up to your imagination on how you picture it.

Thus, my first and best example of it is also the main theme of the story, the concept of "boxes". Right from the start, the author introduces us to the existence of these "boxes" that can grant wishes depending on the character personality and state of mind. That being said, these "boxes" alter the lives of the people that come in contact with them, and quite frequently, the persons around them as well.

Which sets the tone for our protagonist, Kazuki Hoshino, purpose. Kazuki is obsessed with what the author defines as his "everyday life", that is, the normal life of a male japanese high school student, meeting girls so that he may create his own Har.... I mean, having fun with his friends... Kidding aside, the very concept of "boxes" goes against his idea of "everyday life" as something abnormal, and it is his objective to destroy these "boxes".

The author also does a damn fine job at grabbing your attention right from the get go throwing the mystery right at your face and with the enigmatic words of our lovely main heroine Aya Otonashi.

The story also tries to question several concepts of society and can be considered realistic to a point, although I have some reservation which I will talk about soon. Every novel also has a different setting for the main characters, with a different writing styles all perfectly adequate for each of the volumes making each one unique.

Combine all that with a very well written and revised story with no plot holes that I noticed, and you have a must read.

Character: 7/10

So far, you might be wandering, if it is so good, why is the score a 9 out of 10? Indeed, and the reason is the characters, which for me also happen to lower a bit the score of the other aspects as well (hence I gave 9/10 to the story). Now, let me make this clear, the characters and very good, way better than the vast majority of your run-of-the-mill characters, however it is far from perfect.

Let me present the good aspects.

First, the characters are all not stupid. Which is already more than we can usually ask. But the author also tries to make them deep with dark pasts and real motives as to why they want something or the other. It also presents conflict between the beliefs of each one, which is one of the main driving aspects of the story.

Furthermore, every character that appears for some time has a purpose in the story and contributes significantly to it. The protagonist and main heroine also have personalities that makes the reader root for them. And unlike several stories, all characters develop with their actions and grow as an individual.
The relationship between the two main characters, is also a delight too see and one of the selling points of HakoMari.

However...... during the course of my reading, I always had a feeling, an itch if you will. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was at the begging, but in the later volumes it became clear.

The characters feel fake. All of them. And thus the story also suffers from it as well.

And that is why I said the story is realistic to a point. The author just tried too hard to make them realistic with dark pasts and beautiful motivations to the point that they don't feel real. Now before any white knight comes screaming at me that his is just a fantasy, the biggest selling point of the light novel is that it wants the reader to feel connected to the "realism" in it and think of all the the terrible things that happened with the characters so that you may think of all the hidden "messages" it is trying to pass. It wants us to believe that could also happen in a real world setting.

So, when you can't really connect with any of the characters, it doesn't really matter. There were several moments in the story that it was obvious the author was trying to get me connected with the sad moments (and happy parts as well) of the characters. But since they felt "fake", I just didn't really care. I was in more because it was written very well and of the mystery.

Maybe if it were adults in a adult setting or if the author didn't try so hard the, "I wish to change the world", it would be more believable. But, when we remember that all the characters are high school kids... hey, high school students just aren't like that. The "genius" concept is also just not good and overused in HakoMari. The thing is, Geniuses, doesn't actually exist. Well they do, but they are just so very rare, and even so, it doesn't mean they are bound to do great stuff or even want to. In fact, usually, it is quite the contrary. And when HakoMari presents us a school setting apparently full of them, well it is just not believable.

Furthermore, the way the MC likes to flail himself is quite annoying. Try to picture this. People are trying to destroy you, sometimes they are even your friends. You give what they deserve, what do you think:

a) Think that you acted in self-defense and they should apologize
b) Think what a horrible person you are for what you did, even though they started it, and you feel sick with yourself. So you want to beg for forgiveness

Yes I am sure it is option b, because that is certainly what our MC thinks as he always chooses that option. And apparently all the other characters thinks so, because nobody feels bad for what they did and accept his apologies.... the hypocrites.

Also, the way the author seems to just brush off some of the actions that some characters takes bothered me a little. Even if they did something horrible. "Hey I killed someone and manipulated a lot of people against their will. But I suffered in my past and it was all for my distorted sense of justice, so it is ok right?" Well apparently there is no consequence because the character is a good person deep down.

Ok rant over. Even though I said all that, it is way better than it sounded. Those complaints just appeared occasionally, otherwise the score wouldn't be 9/10 overall (which is very good).

If you can just shake off that feeling and apreciate the rest of the story you will enjoy it a lot more, that is what I did.

Art: 7/10:

Pretty good, nothing out of the ordinary, and it is a light novel, so who cares.

Enjoyment 9/10:

So even with that rant, HakoMari is still very enjoying to read, the writing is amazing. It truly is, and the story is fantastic, if it wasn't for the super try hard characters it would be an easy 10. So I enjoyed it not because of it's serious aspect and messages, but because of it is a interesting fantasy story.

I like my readings to be somewhat "smart", and HakoMari certainly fits that bill. Good atmosphere and interesting concept with some mystery some romance, good dialogue and monologue. Specially in the first 4 volumes where the mystery was more in force, it was very enjoyable and I would give a 10/10 for the first part. No overly complicated plot, just a nice read.

Overall 9/10:

I would most definitely recommend HakoMari to anyone and everyone. And I am sure most people will read it in a blaze.