I've read this manga over the span of 3 days, and I gotta say, it has been a roller coaster.
The story is generally pretty weak and at times makes no sense. You got this guy and his sister with special powers who live a hard life that ends in a tragedy, at least almost for the main character. He survives said tragedy and wants revenge... until he doesn't... until he does again, and so on. Now the coherency of the story more or less ends there. What happens afterwards is... honestly I don't really know. The best way I could describe it is just the
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Feb 27, 2024 Not Recommended
Alright, Imma be real with you. I tried to give this manga the benefit of the doubt, I really did. After seeing so many positive reviews, I thought that this manga had to have something to it. I kept telling myself to push through and read the next chapter because there was no way this many people would praise this series over nothing, so I just kept on pushing through chapter after chapter... until it was over. Let's just say that I was pissed when I finished reading it. I wondered, did I seriously waste all this time suffering through this story for nothing? Apparently
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I did and that's not okay. That's why I feel like I have a moral obligation now to give this series the hate that it deserves so more people can avoid falling victim to its dreadfulness as I did.
First off, the art is bad. I was debating whether I should start off by rewriting the synopsis or reviewing the story, but I think this is more important. The art is not bad in the sense that it's a unique style that's hard to get used to, but in the sense that it's just lazy and sloppy. The panels are missing a lot of detail, and I mean a lot. Most of the panels have little to no background, and the backgrounds that are drawn are extremely minimal. The details in general feel very messy and low quality. The very best panels that this manga has to offer are well below average. Literally nothing stands out, from the character designs to the battle scenes to the diagrams used for explanations. Everything is just not good, and it only marginally gets better with time. The art seems like something a 6th grader would draw when they want to create their own manga. It's that level of quality. The art is so watered down that it actually takes away from the experience. Sloppy and forgettable doesn't just apply to the art, it also applies to the characters. Sometimes a manga has a cast of characters that are so well written that they leave you with fond memories like Beck, sometimes a manga has a cast of characters that are so horribly written that they piss you off like Mirai Nikki, and sometimes a manga has a cast of characters that doesn't stand out either way but they're still good enough to leave you satisfied like Claymore. This manga does not fall into any of these categories. The cast of characters in this manga is so mind numbingly dull that I feel nothing toward any of them. Hell, I straight up forget most of them just a few days after finishing the story, that's how forgettable they are. The only thing that I remember well about any of the characters is that the Demon Queen has big tits, that's about it. The personalities are one dimensional, their backgrounds make little sense, and there's little to no character development (the only character that got any actual character development is the older maid sister, and even then it's average). I have zero emotional attachment towards any of the characters, I just couldn't get invested in the characters. When the characters and art are this bad, there has to be some powerful story to cover the gaps and then some. Maybe this is the case in the light novels (I haven't read them nor do I plan to), but it definitely isn't the case here. The story presented in this manga is very flawed and weak. The main story is a cliche premise of the two main characters being on opposite sides of a conflict and then working together to end the violence. I don't have an issue with a story being cliche if it's executed right, and this story is definitely not executed right. I have three issues with how the story was handled. The first is the lack of development. Nothing really moves in this manga. The romantic relationship that was established in the first chapter goes nowhere over the course of the entire series. The main characters, as previously mentioned, stay largely the same with the exception of maybe one character. The complexity of the plot doesn't progress and it stays very underwhelming. I just didn't see any growth, and that's a big issue for me. What a separates a good story from a bad one in my opinion, is this type of growth. The developing progress is what makes a story interesting, it's what makes characters relatable, and it's what makes readers invest in the series. The fact that this manga was so lacking in this regard firmly puts it in the trash category of stories. The second is the lack of complexity. The main selling point of this story is supposed to be that it explores economic and political concepts, supposedly giving it a sense of intellectual depth. However, the concepts that are mentioned are not deep or complex at all. The benefits of crop rotation? The concept of inflation? The idea of the printing press? Really? Who's impressed by this? It doesn't help that the explanations given are very simple and oversimplified. Maybe I've gotten too old, but these concepts are so basic that they just seem childish to me. They might seem complex to a kid in middle school who hasn't learned basic economics/politics yet, but if you're any older then it's not intellectually stimulating at all. The third is the shallowness of it all. One example of this is the interactions between the characters. The vast majority of them are so damn agreeable, it's excessive to the point where it hurts the story. There's no conflict between the characters, there's no drama, and there's very little disagreements. You have about two 2 or 3 supervillains and everybody else is a yes man. It makes the story predictable and repetitive. Another example of this is the comedy, which I think was not very well handled at all. Most of the jokes in the story just revolve around the size of the breasts of the female characters... which I just don't find funny. I would been more fine with this type of humor if there was more to it or something else accompanying it, but there isn't, the size of the breasts is the whole joke again and again and again. I also would've been fine if it was used in between arcs where comedic relief makes sense, but instead we get some of these thought provoking jokes during climatic events, like when a coup d'etat is happening for example. To me, these jokes just showcase that the author himself doesn't take his story seriously. If the author can't get invested in his own story then why should we? As harsh as I am being with this series, it's not all doom and gloom. There are a single digit number of pages in this 57 chapter book that are pretty good. Hell, a couple even made me "heh" out loud or hold my breath for a second or two. So it does have appeal, but only for specific demographic. This story is probably a decent read if you're in middle school and wants a quick feel good story. It has a plot that explores concepts, comedy, and romance at that level. However, if you're any older, this story will only come off as childish and weak and is not worth your time. If you're above the age of 13 and are considering reading this manga, then take some advice from uncle Breezy, and just don't. I suffered through this manga so you don't have to. If you want to read a story that goes in depth with war politics and strategies the right way, read Kingdom. If you want to read a story that explores intriguing economic topics while balancing it with a complex romantic relationship, read Spice and Wolf. If you just want to read a damn good fantasy story with demons and war then read Berserk. All three of these are better than this manga in every way imaginable. This manga just ain't it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 5, 2024
Mirai Nikki
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Reading Mirai Nikki is like eating a raw habanero pepper. While it may be tasty, is it really worth all the pain that you put yourself through? A lot of people think they can handle it, but most can't. Many of the ones who dare eat one will end up regretting it a few hours later when they're sitting on their toilet sweating profusely praying to God that their demise won't be on the John. However, despite this, some people are masochists who can not only handle but enjoy the spice. Eating very spicy food is not for everybody, it is a niche that can
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only be enjoyed by those with a high pain tolerance.
This is a very generic story that had the potential to be something more but got executed so badly that it's lucky to even be considered mediocre. You got your typical loser MC who gets thrown into a whacky world one day to compete in some tournament that the existence of the world depends on. During the tournament, our MC meets the heroine, makes friends, and is liked by friends and foes alike just for existing. The tournament revolves around a dying dimwitted deity, named Deux Ex Machina, that needs to find a successor and thinks that the best way to do that is to gather a dozen or so random citizens from a random Japanese city and have them kill each other with the last one surviving being the winner who will become the new god. This deity gives each of the participants future diaries that allow them to peek into the future to spice up the tournament. Each participant has a unique diary that shows them the future in slightly different ways. You might be asking, who is this deity? How did he come to be? Why is he hosting a tournament? These are all very good questions and the answer to them all is who knows because we never find out. This story really could've been something, especially with how much the author could've done with the concept of the future diaries, but he fumbled it all. This story only has one arc, the tournament, and the author had the opportunity to really explore the psychological aspects of the future diaries like how they influence the holders or how they make battles/strategies more complex and intense, but nope. Instead, we got... I honestly have no idea what we got. The story is at times so ridiculous that I have a hard time believing that the author himself is taking it seriously. The way the concept of death is handled is a joke, the plans used to eliminate the competition are so nonsensical they're stupid, and the way the tournament is justified is weak at best. In the end, all that the story manages to be is flawed, boring, and unsatisfying. For such a disappointing and forgettable story, it is perfectly complemented by equally disappointing and forgettable art. There's really not much to say about the art. The art is average to below average. There are no panels or pages that leave you in awe like One Punch Man or Berserk, or even just mildly impressed like most shounen. The art here is just very plain and meh. As for the characters. I would like to talk about the characters in three parts: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Good: Yuno Gasai - she is the one and only saving grace of this manga. I know she's famous for being the quintessential Yandere archetype, but she is a genuinely good character, great even. She is complex, intelligent, competent, has an interesting personality, and has depth. Her character development is good and well paced, and she's also given an intriguing backstory that's fleshed out to a degree. One of the things that made me appreciate this character is how her insanity is portrayed. In a lot of shounen stories, this type of character only exists to satisfy the fantasy of lonely teenage boys who want to feel wanted, therefore they aren't given any depth outside of their dying love for the MC. While you could argue that is the case here, the author did attempt to make people sympathetic to Yuno's state of mind. Her tragic backstory of abuse and neglect contextualizes her behavior, and throughout the story, we get shown glimpses of how Yuno's psychotic episodes are influenced by her past pain. It makes you understand why she went crazy and how her obsessiveness and unstable personality is something that is more sad than quirky. This aspect made her feel more human to me. This is a very big stretch for me to say, but she kind of reminds me of Guts from Berserk in this aspect. Of course, Yuno is nowhere near as good as Guts as a character, but it's still a positive similarity. Minene Uryuu - The only other character in the story that I had positive thoughts about. She originally started out as a terrorist and was only meant to be a cheap villain, but over the course of the story, her role evolved to be more of a big sister to the main character. While that's not unusual in shounen stories, what made this character above average for me is that she was actually given a decent backstory that explains her motives for being a terrorist as well as give a decent explanation as to why she decided to help Yukiteru. She didn't stick him just because he's breathing the same air as her... like the other characters did in the story. She was also given a little romance story, which made her mildly more complex and likable. This is still a mediocre character overall, but compared to the other characters in this story, she's definitely the second best character and one of only two characters that are worth any good remarks. The Bad: Aru Akise - This is a very confusing character that was very lazily written. Given the big role that he plays in the story, the amount of development we get leaves a lot to be desired. He started as being mysterious detective and stayed that way for a while, and then suddenly went to being gay for Yukiteru. Why? Who knows. That part never got explained. We just teleported from one point to the other. Every other supporting character in the story is completely forgettable. I finished reading the manga earlier today and I already forgot most of them, that's how shallow, boring, and meaningless the other characters are. The Ugly: Yukiteru Amano - My God is he INSUFFERABLE, and I cannot emphasize this enough. He starts off as a useless, whiny, bitch and stays that way the entire story. Every time and I really do mean every time, the plot progresses, and there is some sort of action going down, you can be sure that Yuki is going to occupy half the panels with his crying toddler face. I'm not even exaggerating here, you'll see his annoying crying face every other chapter if not every chapter. There's a fight? He's crying. There's a moral dilemma? He's crying. Nothing is happening? He's crying. He's so pathetic it's vexing. See, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with him being weak and needing Yuno to protect him if he was at least competent in some other aspect... But no, on top of being weak, he's just mind numbingly stupid. He makes very simple conflicts actively worse because he lacks any and all brain power. It's frustrating to see as a reader because it's basically just the author spitting in your face every time. Halfway through the story, the author plays a cruel trick on us by pretending that Yuki becomes at least mildly competent... but nope, very shortly after it is revealed that he is still the same annoying, one dimensional crybaby. What pisses me off is that the author is aware of all of this because half of the characters point out just how useless, whiny, and a failure Yukiteru is. Considering how Sakae Esuno is capable of writing higher caliber characters like Yuno in this very story, I'm convinced that he wrote Yukiteru just to troll the audience. There's just no way anybody can write a character this bad without intentionally trying. Now should you read this? Is this enjoyable? That depends. I'll refer back to my raw habanero analogy. This story can't be stomached by most people. Between the subpar story, the forgettable cast of characters, the mediocre art, and the unbearable main character, many will find themselves oppressed by the many trashy aspects of this story. However, if you have a very high pain tolerance and exceptional amounts of patience then you can read the story for the Yuno Gasai character. She's the reason why I gave this manga a score of 5 instead of a score of 2 or 3. If you do accept the challenge of reading this story, then you should go in prepared knowing the consequences. Getting a taste of Yuno's character is good, but it comes at the cost of your ass being lit on fire. If you're still determined, then I cannot deter you any further. Good luck soldier.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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