Back to BowFlamer's Profile BowFlamer's Profile

Ah, the classic sci-fi plot; aliens who come to earth because their planet is near extinction... with a twist.
Let me say something before this review, this manga is not for everyone, but I'm positive that everyone will enjoy it to some extent. It will only take you 30 minutes to read, so there is no loss. (Unless you are currently studying for something important.)

Story - 7
The story was good and interesting, I was surprised at how well each of the stories had linked together. Of course, there were plot holes, and the comedic atmosphere had ruined some moments, but it was a good story overall. ... I really liked how it displayed human emotions in a way that it was something that only humans had, and it touched me.

Art - 4
The artwork was... pretty bad. The eyes were poorly drawn, there was little detail and the tones weren't used to their full potential, the anatomy was also off. However, I don't think I can do any better, so I can't complain. The art is readable and won't affect the experience in any way. It sometimes flows well with the half comedy half tragedy story.

Character - 8
My favourite aspect of this manga; the characters. Each character had different experiences and interacted differently. The one thing that they agreed on was that they all wanted to stay on earth. Let me honest here, the characters flawed, but because of the length of the story, these flaws did not affect anything in a major way.

Enjoyment - 9
I thoroughly enjoyed this series, especially the way that the aliens reacted to the human emotions. Once again, I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who has some spare time.

Ah, Shingeki no Bahamut, a show which I nearly dropped halfway through. However, boy am I glad that I didn't drop it.

Story - 6

The story is "fair". It started off as a pretty average story, everything was predictable and even boring to an extent, however the ending did surprise me quite a lot. Though there were some unexplained things there. Anyhow, there isn't much character development nor are there many deep themes which delve into the depth of mankind and nature, however, I can see how some people may enjoy this show. Let's just say that I am NOT one of those people.

Art - ... 8

The art is probably my favourite aspect of the story, though I didn't really like the style. Everything else was pretty nice, animation was ok, proportions were great. I barely saw any misdrawn faces and the action scenes can be quite intense. The environment however, was beautiful, and it was probably my favourite aspect of the artwork of this show.

Sound - 7

The sound was.... average. However, I can say that the opening theme saved the show.

Character - 6

I found the characters to be uninteresting and unrealistic (apart from the zombie girl). However, I really enjoyed the way that they interacted with each other. Not much development happened but I might just miss them now.

Enjoyment - 4

Enjoyment, the most important part of watching anything. You should enjoy it before you critically review it. Sadly, I didn't enjoy the show and half of it just felt like I was sitting through class. Actually, I would have rather studied for maths than watched some parts of the show.

Overall - 6

Yeah, it wasn't too good. But it is definitely worth a watch.

As someone who likes to read novels, this was a big let down, one that may have put me off of light novels.

Story - 5
The story was pretty... Meh. It didn't interest me at all, and in all honesty, it had bored me till the very end. It was filled with anime clichés and things like that. I didn't enjoy the characters very much either.

Art - 8
The artwork is probably one of the only things I liked about this novel. It was pretty good for light novel art, and it kept to a style that I personally enjoy. Not much is to be said ... about the artwork, because there are only around 5 pages of artwork throughout the entire novel.

Character - 5
I found each and every one of the characters to be uninteresting and stereotypical as they could be. The main character is unique? No. I have seen to many similar characters to him that the only thing I found interesting about anything in the story is the power that he had. Perhaps it was a mistake to read the english translation. The other characters were boring as well, and it may have been the translator's fault for not expressing them completely.

Enjoyment - 3
As I said before, I wasn't very interested throughout the entire book. And unlike any other books I have read, I almost wanted to just flip to the end and finish it without reading what happens in the middle. However, I went through everything, and I was very disappointed.

As I have said before, my experience may have been affected by the translator. However, I just want to point out that I read the official translation (Doesn't mean that it could be any better than a fan translation though). I may come back to this review if I change my mind after reading the Japanese version.

13 Club, a website that hosts strange tales that you wouldn't see in your daily life.

The manga covers 5 short stories about strange things happening to the people. I am going to keep this review spoiler free. But first of all, I would like to say that this manga isn't for everyone... Parts of it made my stomach turn, and not because of the gore, but because of the shocking way that the stories are told. Even so, I still enjoyed it and I am excited to get into the review!

Story - 9/10

As I said, this is a series of short stories, meaning that each ... story is significantly different to the other and the only relevance being Kudan, the man who collects these stories for his website. Perhaps I would have given the story a higher score if it was a whole story altogether. But some stories had dragged the others down. I would have given the first story an 9, the second an 8, the third an 8, the fourth a 9 and the last one a 9. You may see why once you read the manga, or you may completely disagree with my opinion, that is up to you to decide. However, I found the stories each to tell a moral story, which was quite intriguing.

Art - 8/10

I really liked the artwork and I think that it really gave the manga a more "mysterious" feel to it. The reason I gave it an 8/10 and not a 10/10 is because of the mistakes that I could spot, which were made by the manga-ka. These mistakes are mostly visible in his more detailed drawings of the characters' faces. Even though the artwork is really good, I found some characters had differed to their previous drawings.
Character - 8/10

The characters were well made and very interesting. I found Kudan to become a weird and lovable iconic figure for the manga. The only thing that the characters missed was character development, which none of them had.

Enjoyment - 7/10

This manga had kept me entertained, but it didn't keep me addicted to it. I didn't feel bored, but I felt like I could stop reading anytime, and it would have been okay. Even though the stories were interesting and some made me stick to the manga, there were some that simply put me off. Because of the spine-chilling mystery in the third manga, and all of the unfortunate things that happened to those unfortunate people really made my stomach turn.

Overall - 8/10

Overall, this manga was pretty good, and I loved the story telling involved. The artwork was nice, the characters were interesting and unique, and I had enjoyed this series quite a bit. It is a shame that it was only 11 chapters long, and I would love to read a sequel.

Okay, here we go...
First of all, I would like to point out that this manga is pretty average. The characters, the story, the art. There isn't really much to say about this manga except for the fact that... It's average. However, I really don't know if I enjoyed this series or not, so I'll just leave enjoyment at 6/10. Without further ado, let's get straight into the review.

Story - 5/10

The story isn't what people would call half-baked, because there was potential in the story, but it got burnt. The poor plot execution and forced drama had really got on my nerves, and I couldn't really ... enjoy this series due to the fact. Another problem about the story are its many plot holes and contradictions, which you will definitely see when you read the manga. What I really hated about this manga though, are the forced cliff hangers. Literally every single chapter had a cliff-hanger... Maybe the author just likes them?

Art - 5/10

Okay, I'll be honest with you... I disliked the art style. It's just not my preference. Please don't call me casual because I actually found many strange art styles to be good, but this one just wasn't that appealing. The artwork on its own is amazing, especially the amount of detail the manga-ka had put into it, but the style was just.... ew. I got used to it towards to end, but it really could be improved. It also doesn't help that there were a lot of proportionate and positional mistakes in the artwork, so it wasn't exactly perfected either.

Character - 6/10

Now... with the characters. Let me say one thing about them first; they had potential. Note the emphasise on had. But most of them just didn't know what they wanted their personality to be, or just what they wanted to be in general. There was an odd character progression that didn't seem natural at all, and the main character is the generic "overpowered" character you'd find in most shounen manga. Speaking of shounen manga, this manga had many clichèd elements which I will not get in depth with. However, I found most of the character's personalities and reasoning confusing and unstable, hence the low score.

Enjoyment - 6/10

I had to force myself through this manga at first, but it slowly attached to me. However, it only happened after the first arc was over. Yes, I only enjoyed the second arc. This is because I found the first arc to be very... normal and uninteresting. Sure many events happened, but they were too generic to be interesting.

Overall - 6/10

Now, I had originally planned to give it a 5/10. But after some thought, my soft counterpart decided to show up and give it a 6/10. This is because of the elements of friendship it had contained, and also because of how much potential the whole thing had. Not to mention, the manga actually seemed worthwhile reading after I finished it.

So... Would I recommend this manga?
The answer is yes. I believe that most people will be able to somewhat get into this manga, and hopefully come back with their own thoughts on it!

I read this manga expecting an average manga about boxing...
What I got was a hidden gem. First, let me get this point straight to you, this manga is underrated. Now I know what you're thinking, that this is just one of those average manga. But a lot of work and effort has gone into this manga to make it perfect. Now, let's get into the review.

Story - 9/10

Fuyu Hanabi's story is actually quite good, great even. It has a nice balance of comedy and tragedy, and a bunch of small twists and cliffhangers to keep you awake. However, this manga didn't just keep me awake, ... it turned the pages for me. Some people may say that the story doesn't know what it wants to be. But it sure as hell knows what it wants to be. It is a touching and motivating story, filled with the harsh truths of the world. However, it also teaches you that you don't need to achieve your dream to be happy. The story does an amazing job of telling a great story in 9 chapters.

Art - 9/10

This is probably what people dislike the most about this manga, but truth to be told, the artwork is actually amazing. Especially for its age, since this was the popular manga style back then. The backgrounds and people are detailed, and the emotions of the characters are easy to spot. Somethings are a bit off, but the art is appealing and detailed overall. You can see all the work that the manga-ka has put into the artwork.

Character - 9/10

The characters are great, and their development is obvious through the course of this nine chapter manga. Both of the main characters are loveable, and their emotions really get through to you, thanks to the great art and dialogue. The only reason that the characters aren't 10/10 is because of the fact that a few of them are quite generic, especially the villians.

Enjoyment - 10/10

As I said before, this manga kept the pages turning for me. I didn't even want to go to sleep while reading this late in the night. The romance, action and amazing pacing of the manga made me enjoy it to the max.

Overall -10/10

All in all, I enjoyed this manga an extreme amount, and I really believe it deserves more than a 7 (This was the score at the time I wrote this review). I really believe that if you stop reading mainstream manga, and try to go a little off course into the less well known manga section, you will find a masterpiece.

"Why is living so hard?"
Cocytus, a GL manga which gives you an in-depth view of a girl's thoughts and daily life. To be honest with you, I was careless and didn't check the tags. What I ended up with was a GL manga, which I always avoid. But I had found out half way through reading it, so I though, why not just keep reading it. Now, even though it is classified as a GL manga, it really only has 3-4 pages of actual GL, just keep that in mind. (Spoiler Free)
(I will be focusing on the one-shot Cocytus for this review)

Story - 7/10

The story ... was actual really deep, which I did not expect. It gives you a sneak peek of a schoolgirl's thoughts and actions when they interact with their friends and classmates. It seemed to be quite unrealistic at first, but the more I read it, the more truthful it seemed. Though this may not apply to western girls, it sure as hell applies to Japanese schoolgirls. Spreading rumours and pretending you don't know someone is only a small part of their daily lives.

Art - 5/10

At first sight, I loved the artwork. I enjoy this type of art style and found it really nice to read. That is until I found the mistakes. Tons and tons of mistakes, such as eye displacements, limb displacements and messed up proportions. The background had a style so simple that it made the manga-ka look lazy. Or maybe she really was just lazy.

Character - 6/10

The characters were interesting, but I have seen all of their personalities a few times before. The socially inept one, and the normal one who (plot twist) isn't really normal. Their personalities weren't that bad, but there sure was room for improvement. There was also character development, but a lot of that occurred awkwardly and wasn't fluid to be that good.

Enjoyment - 6/10

I thought this series was quite decent, and the drama it had going on in 60 pages really got the pages turning for me. The downside was the GL. As I said before, I was not a fan of Gl, and I am even less of a fan for it now.

Overall - 6/10

The series could have used more work on perfecting its art and deepening the characters. But overall, I thought it was a decent manga. (And thank goodness there weren't that many GL elements invlolved.)

I saw that this manga had no reviews, which didn't come as much of a surprise due to its low popularity and the fact that it is just a bundle of one shots. However, I actually found myself enjoying this manga a lot. Note that this was my first time reading shoujo manga.
(I will be focusing on the first story only)

Story - 7/10

I understand that the story may seem quite normal to shoujo readers, but I barely read this type of story. And it actually works well, to my surprise. It was able to pull me in, but I feel like it was missing something. ... It had too much of a happy ending. I realise that shoujo manga is usually about an ideal romance or friendship, but I really didn't enjoy how ideal the storyline was for the main character. There was good character development, but much of the plot was made to suit the main character. But this was a good manga, especially for a one-shot.

Art - 6/10

I am not a big fan of shoujo art, hence the low score. But I didn't find the artwork to be a distraction, nor did it put me off reading the manga, which was good. I could spot a few mistakes in the artwork, but they were quite small and didn't really affect much. All in all, the artwork was average.

Character - 7/10

Now this is when the characters come in. I found the characters quite average, especially the girl. There are many manga with the type of girl who, basically, has no friends. And the only development they make is friends, and become more socially adept. This was the same case with the manga. But it didn't affect my thoughts about the manga much, except I found her to be quite annoying sometimes. The guardian is also quite normal. He is the typical "guardian" type found in most manga. This is basically it for the characters.

Enjoyment - 8/10

I enjoyed this one-shot quite a bit, it had a good speed and had some cliff-hangers. The events included in the one-shot turn the pages for me.

Overall - 7/10

I enjoyed this manga quite a lot... Its only downside being its unoriginal and clichéd story.

Because of how little reviews there are of this manga, I have read all of them and noticed that everyone was talking about how the author uses pictures instead of words. I can agree with two things; the art is amazing, and the author uses little dialogue. But that's it. Many people say that you would understand the story more if you took a closer look and analysed the artwork, but that is simply false. The art is amazingly detailed, but few of them actually portray something important to understanding the story. Now, with that sorted, I will begin my review.

Story - 6/10

The story was ... quite decent, and it would probably be even higher if it was clear enough to understand. After analysing the artwork, I could finish the story with barely any extra understanding of the story. And the only part that I completely understood and enjoyed was the ending, and the ending was a masterpiece; To the eye and to the brain. I will not speak of the story since I want to keep this spoiler free.

Art - 10/10

The art in here is amazing, though the characters may put many people off. This is due to their eyes being too far apart, otherwise it would look amazing. But that it just part of the author's style and personality, and I respect that. When I say amazing, I absolutely mean it. Not only is it detailed on every aspect, but it actually communicates emotions with me. However, there is one thing I don't like very much about the artwork... The battle scenes. Most of the battle scenes confuse me, because the author skips quite a lot of actions in them. The sketchy drawing style also doesn't help point out what the author really wants you to see. I also don't like the style of the sound effects, it is a bit plain, but I guess that is also part of his style.

Character - 3/10

The characters are low for a reason... They had little to no introduction or insight. We couldn't really tell what they were feeling and what their personalities were... I felt that most of them were emotionless. Except for one, which I'm sure you all know if you have finished the manga. I feel like the author could have put a lot more depth into his characters to make them loveable, or at least unique.

Enjoyment - 2/10

The entire manga wasn't very fun or addictive to read. Probably because the author didn't mean for it to be. I like to read more fast paced manga, and this one was fast paced... Just not in the right way. The story accelerates quite fast, but you would have to read slowly due to the intricate artwork. This feeling contradicts itself and I just felt like rushing the manga the whole time. To be honest with you, I had to force myself through the manga.

Overall - 5/10

I gave it a 5 for an overall score, I was originally going to give it a 6 or a 7 while I was reading it. However, the part I was reading was probably the only part I found interesting, and the rest had disappointed me. With that said, I think this manga had quite a lot of potential. The manga-ka had just focused on some of the wrong elements to try and bring it alive.

(Spoiler Free!)
Parasyte, an anime about parasitic aliens invading earth and taking over the human race. The only person who knows about the invasion is a 17 year old boy called Shinichi, whose arm has a parasyte in it. Based on the phenomenal manga made in 1988, "Parasyte" adapts its manga with accuracy while changing the setting from old times to modern age. Produced by Madhouse, this anime could be seen as a modern day masterpiece.

(There may be some bias due to this series being the one which got me into anime...)

Story - 9/10

As I said before, this anime adapts its manga faithfully, without any major ... curves. And there is only one thing that I can say about the story, it is great. Not perfect, but great. It follows the normal structure of a story, and has a smooth way of carrying it. The pacing is perfect, not slow nor fast. It sucks you straight in from the start until the very end. The story also includes some surprising morals, which will sink right into you when you finish the anime. There are times when the story seems a bit off, but there are only a few of these moments, and apart from that the story is great. Character introductions are very natural, so that we already know a lot about the character once they interact with Shinichi.

Art - 10/10

The artwork is amazing, and I would expect no less from Madhouse. The art style is different to the manga, since the anime received a visual update due to the year gap between the adaption. To be honest with you, I actually prefer the anime's art style more than the manga's due to its appealing and realistic style. As far as I could tell, there weren't any frame skips and the animation is quite fluid, as expected of madhouse studios. Even the special effects were amazing. There were a few cgi scenes, but that was to be expected due to the budget.

Sound - 10/10

The sound of Parasyte is amazing. All of the voice actors had suitable voices, I really liked Migi's voice. The foley sounds were also great, especially the clashing sounds. I found the opening song really fitting to the anime, and the opening animations were AMAZING. The ending song was beautiful and the high quality OST was actually quite nice. Ranging from dubstep to orchestral songs, the OST was fitting and unique.

Character - 9/10

Personally, I found the characters in Parasyte to be unique and fun to watch. Apart from a few annoying characters who I won't mention, I found myself to become hooked to the characters. Shinichi's character development was my favourite. He changed from a nerdy geek to a bad-ass avenger in half an episode's time. I liked the romance in the story, but I found the complex a bit annoying to watch. Apart from this, I found Migi to be enjoyable and humorous and I actually liked the way human emotions affected Ryouko.

Enjoyment - 10/10

At first, I was a bit disgusted by the gore, but I began to love this show when I completed the first episode. From unexpected humour to badass battles, I found Parasyte extremely enjoyable. The fact that the dark elements of the show were battled by the humour in it made the show even more enjoyable.

Overall - 10/10

This may not seem like a fair score to you, but I believe that Parasyte well deserved a 10/10. The author had said that the idea was "what would happen if humans faced a stronger organism?" And it seems that humans would still win, because of the amount of damage done to the earth...

Cancer