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Oct 10, 2024
...I fucking hate this manga.
This isn't some kind of structured review or whatever. This is a somewhat sporadic stream of consciousness of someone who just finished reading this manga last night and regrets ever thinking that Mikoto Yamaguchi could possibly create a manga that isn't hot garbage.
This manga opens up with grabbing the viewer with a strong sense of disgust. The main character, Murai, at the start is a revolting little cunt who has been sniffing a dead girl's panties every day for FIVE FUCKING YEARS. And you know that? Yeah I'm down with that. I'm down with having a story where the main character
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is just a loathsome little shit who constantly tries to assert that he's better than everyone. And then the story then tries to paint him in a sympathetic light by exploring his abusive upbringing, and while that definitely could work in a story by a non-hack writer who doesn't rely on cheap gross outs to keep reader attention, the MC's development is just so fucking all over the place. There's a moment halfway through where the MC shows some genuinely redeeming qualities when he risks his life to stop the skin-walkers (they're never named in the actual story so I'm calling them skin-walkers), but then the story practically turns to the audience and says "lol no there's nothing even remotely respectable about this dude" and THEN it turns around and presents him in a tragic light or something? It's so fucking bizarre. Is the MC supposed to be an unlikely hero where he rises to the occasion despite being a gross incel? Is he supposed to be a total villain protagonist who we're supposed to hate? An anti-hero? He has development I think, but I couldn't tell you what his whole character arc is supposed to be.
Other than him, there's not really any other character who's worth talking about other than the femc. For almost the entire story, the narrative plays her up as the biggest piece of shit you can think of, but then at the LAST second it tries to do some "I actually loved you the whole time" thing. And sure you can give your main antagonist redeeming qualities at the end like that, but this whole moment feels so unearned. This ENTIRE aspect of her character comes out of nowhere to play into this really, really heavy-handed social commentary about love or whatever that they spent the last volume going on about.
As for the story, the story starts as some mystery where the MC suddenly gets a bizarre girlfriend who's implied to be a nonhuman skinwalker that eats people and she's manipulating him to give her easy prey. All the while there's this really, really tone-deaf social commentary about losers and love (I will get to this) which just makes this whole segment a slog to get through. And then at the end of the first volume it turns into Tokyo Ghoul from the POV of a lone wolf ghoul inspector who happens to be a fat incel with a baseball bat going on the run. And like holy shit for a solid 4-ish chapters this manga was actually kinda awesome just because of how batshit insane that concept is. It's like the manga rewards you for sticking through the bad social commentary. But then in the last few chapters the story pivots hard back into that and turns into some lecture about losers and love and then you feel stupid for ever getting mildly invested in the story whatsoever.
And speaking of the Tokyo Ghoul comparisons, the last scene of the manga is taken DIRECTLY out of Tokyo Ghoul. That is not me exaggerating or whatever. The sheer audacity of Mikoto Yamaguchi ape the LITERAL CLIMAX of his story from another, better manga is fucking insane to me. And before someone goes "um ackshully this is just two different authors coming up with similar scenes by accident" yeah no fuck off with that shit. Putting aside the whole actual, straight up people eaters disguising in human society, Murai literally has one darkened eye from his partial transformation. The scene with him and Haruka at the end is ripped straight from Kaneki and Rize. You truly cannot make this shit up. Mikoto Yamaguchi is a hack. This wasn't a satire or anything either because the story CLEARLY wanted you to take the scene and the events leading up to it seriously.
You might read all of that and go "okay so this guy thinks this manga sucks but why does he hate it this much?" And to that I'd say that it's because this manga tries to have a message, and said message is both poorly delivered and honestly somewhat toxic in its contents. So the main character starts the story as a gross pervert who puts himself above other people by dismissing them as "losers who no one cares about," which by contrast elevates himself in his own mind by sheer virtue of being "better" than others. And obviously that's a toxic mindset, and the story treats it as such. But the narrative's answer to Murai's ideology is that "even losers have people who care about them." But the thing is, the actual underlying axiom of Murai's mindset, that people's value is determined by other people caring about them, is never actually subverted. From the manga's perspective, the people at the bottom of the "social hierarchy" ARE losers. Yamada, whose worst crime is being fat and smelly, is viewed under the same lens as Murai's LITERAL PEDOPHILE MURDERER father. This isn't just supposed to be a sign of Murai's own distorted view on reality or whatever. The last few chapters of the story are just heavy handed exposition dumps on how some people are gross disgusting losers, but even they deserve love or whatever. This manga, like, bases its worldview on ugly bastard ntr rape hentai videos (and given the stuff Mikoto Yamaguchi comes out with I am fairly confident that this is an apt description), asserts that people who aren't in line with social norms are more or less the same as those ugly bastard rapist characters, and then asserts that "no actually those ugly bastards still have people who care about them!" This manga's message is just so fucking insane. The manga's message seems to be that "all human life has intrinsic value" but the framework it uses to convey that message is bafflingly based on rape fetish porn. I deadass don't even know what to say to that.
The art is good I guess. The skin walkers had some creepy faces which I liked. The story was clearly TRYING to gross me out so I guess it did a good job I guess.
tl;dr:
Mikoto Yamaguchi is a hack. I hate everything this man has made. I hate how fucking entertaining his dogshit is. I hate that I love shitting on his slop so much. This manga sucks ass.
Giving this shit a 3/10 because this shit sucks ass but there was a span of like two-three chapters which were actually decent and then it went right back to being shit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Sep 4, 2024
...fuck this one's frustrating.
There have been axed manga that I liked more, but out of my experience with Jump, this is probably the one that stings the most. Maybe the first few chapters weren't anything to write home about, but as the story went on I could see the vision. There were signs of potential from the start, sure, but then when they did the WWIII flashback and elaborated on the main villain's backstory, I could see that there was something more here than "silly android girl fights evil cops." The author had a story he wanted to tell, a world he wanted to expand
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upon, ideas he wanted to explore. Like, fuck the chapters about the scientist and his wife were honestly compelling. It took what was a seemingly over-the-top premise and grounded it in reality and human tragedy. I was hooked. And then right when that part of the story ends... BOOM axe announcement.
Fucking hell man. Shojo Null is a decent manga for what it's worth and I recommend checking it out if you want a quick sci-fi read. But I really, truly do think it could have been a GREAT one if it was only allowed to be.
Interesting setting? Absolutely. Good art? Yep. Fun villains? Certainly. Good comedy? You got it. Interesting themes? Maybe there wasn't enough time to explore them, but some interesting questions were certainly raised. Good character writing? The story didn't have enough time to develop its cast beyond a surface level, you could definitely see that the seeds were there to grow into something more.
Fucking Shueisha. I swear.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 21, 2024
This is a manga that I would recommend to a very specific demographic of people.
The manga's story centers on the suicidal ideation of the three main characters, showing how each of them fantasize about death in different ways in reaction to the lives they were dealt. The main reason I think this manga is going to alienate a lot of people right off the bat is that it never tries to portray its characters as WRONG for feeling the way they do. The story never makes any attempt to "fix" or "save" its characters. That isn't to say that it condones suicide either. It just
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unapologetically presents suicidal ideation in a very neutral, matter-of-fact light.
Now, I can 100% understand why this would cause a lot of people to dismiss the manga as "edgy" or "style without substance." But, as someone who's dealt with clinical depression and suicidal ideation for much of my life, I found the story's treatment of its subject matter to be oddly cathartic. It's obviously not for everyone, but speaking from experience the way the story presents its subject matter is just very genuine. Another review criticized the manga for treating heavy subjects in a "light-hearted" manner, but I myself found it somewhat satisfying to see a story presenting these topics without trying to "tell" you how to feel about them.
On the topic of characters, I found the three main characters to all be rather interesting and I enjoyed their dynamics with each other. I liked how the main couple were never trying to "fix" or "save" each other, instead just wholeheartedly accepting each other as they were. And again, while I definitely understand why that would rub people the wrong way, I myself found the story's "direct" approach here to be rather cathartic. Also I like how the story eschewed any cheap drama between the two female leads. They both liked the same guy, but they were also shown to have a genuinely warm friendship which I certainly wasn't expecting.
Now this isn't to say that the manga is perfect. The ending is very abrupt. Some plotlines don't really go anywhere. Certain ideas don't feel as fleshed out as they could be. But overall, this is definitely a manga I'm glad that I read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 10, 2024
I don’t think the MAL description does a very good job at representing what this series is about.
Psycho x Past is about a time traveling detective who swaps minds with the victims of serial killers in the past before they were killed. Using his detective skills and his knowledge on the cases from the future, he needs to bring the killers to justice while avoiding being killed himself.
And yes, this manga is every bit as fun as that premise sounds.
If you’re familiar at all with Shingo Honda’s work, you know that his manga lean heavily into “fun B movie splatterhouse horror” and this
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manga is no exception. The killers hit that nice balance between being cartoonish over-the-top caricatures and genuinely threatening, depraved lunatics. To give you an idea of what I mean, the first serial killer is a man obsessed with his mother’s breasts and wears a flesh mask made out of the severed breasts of women he’s murdered. And while that is obviously horrifying and disturbing, the way he acts is very over the top and campy. And of course, our detective protagonist ultimately gets the better of him and beats him at his own game. Again, B movie splatterhouse horror. It’s horror, but it’s the FUN kind of horror if you understand what I’m saying.
Our two main characters are both pretty fun and enjoyable in their own way. Our main character, Godai, is a Dirty Harry “loose cannon” cop who gets reassigned for losing control with criminals. What makes him work as a lead, though, is how his “hard-boiled chain-smoking cowboy cop” personality is transported into the bodies of random people, such as a kidnapped teenage girl or a bedridden child. So you have all the people around him going “Dude, what happened to you? Why are you acting so different all of a sudden?” It’s consistently entertaining seeing him trying to solve cases and catch serial killers while also needing to play out the life of whoever he’s inhabiting. There’s not much I can say right now about the other lead, Shisei, because only 15 chapters are translated. He’s basically the psychic who sends Godai back in time, and he's the kind of character who you’re never QUITE sure if he’s gonna be an ally or a villain. And also of course there’s plenty of yaoi bait between him and Godai.
In terms of story, each case seems to mostly be self contained. There is definitely a bigger overarching mystery going on behind the scenes, but again only 15 chapters are in English when I’m writing this so I can’t say any more than that. In terms of the individual cases though, they’re all pretty solid and entertaining. Each one feels pretty unique from each other, but one element they all share is that the climax has some big “Ace Attorney” sequence where Godai hits the killer with the evidence and deconstructs their modus operandis. While I wouldn’t say any of them are deep, slow-burn mysteries or anything, all the clues that Godai uses are actually pretty subtly foreshadowed. For example (minor spoiler for the third case), when Godai is talking to one of the killers, you can briefly see a pretty high-end camera sitting in his room, indicating that he’s skilled in photography. This, of course, turns out to be a crucial detail in the case’s climax. Again, don’t expect any deep complex mysteries here (at least right now), but there’s definitely fun to be had in trying to piece together the clues yourself.
As for art, if you’ve read Shingo Honda’s other works, you already know he’s great at conveying tension and dread through his art and paneling. He has made several horror manga before this and he clearly knows how to pull it off. If you’re looking for creepy, disturbing imagery, you’re 100% gonna find it here.
All in all, this manga CERTAINLY is not for everyone (like, look at volume 1’s cover). But it succeeds in doing what it sets out to do: being a fun horror story. If you’re into that, then I recommend giving this one a read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 9, 2024
Short review for a short manga.
Kiriko Kill is basically a dumb slasher B Movie. It's fun and it's got good art. The artist definitely knows how to draw a good looking monster. In terms of story don't expect anything stellar. The writing is semi-serviceable for what it is, but that's fine cause this isn't the type of manga that needs any kind of deep story or whatever.
If you're looking for a campy and cheesy slasher about some people trying to escape from a monster terrorizing their company, then you're gonna enjoy this because that's what it is.
All in all it's some solid fun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 30, 2024
Basic plot summary: college boy meets a cute girl, and then everything quickly spirals into a crime story and only gets worse from there. Very compelling concept, but unfortunately it isn't as good as it could have been.
The manga has a very strong start, but I think it shoots itself in the foot by over-relying on the girl having unhinged ex boyfriends. With the first one it's pretty believable, but the second one feels very forced and artificial. The third wasn't even "unhinged," just kind of an asshole. Then there's this youtuber mob boss who was ordering around the three exes or something (It's
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not really explained that well)
Both the MCs are legitimately horrible people. They both let themselves be used by the other despite knowing that it will only hurt themselves and those around them. Both of them are constantly running away from reality and digging themselves deeper and deeper into their hole. The male MC almost learns something at the end, but he then runs away from his problems again by putting all the blame onto the girl when he's equally as guilty for everything that happened. The female MC maybe learns something from the whole mess, but there's also evidence to suggest that she's just gonna relapse back into her self-destructive tendencies. With that being said I don't like how the narrative continually tries to frame the female MC as a victim when she is just as guilty for everything that happened as the male MC.
The art and paneling are both very solid. While I certainly have my gripes with Enma Akiyama as a writer, she is very good at conveying rather subtle character emotions through facial expressions and panel layout. I always understand what emotions the main characters are feeling, and Akiyama definitely uses the medium to her advantage in that regard.
I definitely wouldn't say this is a GOOD manga (the plot relies way, way too much on cliches and a lot of shit doesn't make sense), but I did like how toxic the dynamic between the two leads was. I think the first couple of chapters were very solid, but the author didn't know how to continue the plot after the first victim so she just fell back on the exact same cliches. I think this manga could've been far better if they put the focus on the leads trying to cover up the first victim instead of introducing more and more side characters who they're """forced""" to victimize.
For an overall score, I think a 5/10 is pretty appropriate. For me personally, I give a score of 6 and above to works I have an overall positive opinion on, and conversely I give a score of 4 and below to works I have an overall negative opinion on. With Killer in Love, I have a lot of mixed feelings on it. It TRIES to tackle some complex and nuanced subject matter but, in my opinion, it doesn't do a very good job at that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 29, 2024
I haven't read Future Diaries nor any of Sakae Esuno's other works, but just going off Hanako to Guuwa no Teller alone, I can say with total confidence that Sakae Esuno is a terrible writer.
To start off this review on a more positive note, I'll list off the things I actually liked about Hanako to Guuwa no Teller. The characters are almost likeable for what they are. I wouldn't say that any of them are especially memorable or that I cared about them all that much, but there were a few cute moments and gags with them that I found somewhat endearing, if rushed
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and not well executed. The characters all fall into fairly tried-and-true archetypes: Asou is the eccentric detective, Kanae is the audience surrogate / damsel-in-distress, and Hanako is the hypercompetent kid sidekick. The whole "found family" dynamic with Asou and Kanae being Hanako's parental figures was sorta cute, even if it wasn't developed enough to have any kind of impact on me. Again I want to emphasize that the characters aren't anything special, but they are a tiny bit likeable for what they are. Likewise, the art is fine for what it is. Nothing that I would say is above average, but credit where credit is due I suppose.
As for the negatives.... everything else.
Now, I'm not typically one of those guys who gets especially angry over plot holes (as in I wouldn't willingly sit through a 2 hour video talking about the plot holes in the Last Jedi or anything), but Hanako to Guuwa no Teller lacks any kind of internal logic even in moment-to-moment storytelling. Characters will take bafflingly random actions to push the plot forward. Shit will happen without any justification. The whole concept of "allegories" (the ENTIRE PREMISE of this manga by the way) is poorly explained at best and completely nonsensical at worst.
If you want an example for the kind of storytelling you can expect to see in this manga, look no further than the first chapter.
Let's say that you're Daisuke Asou. You work as a supernatural detective, seemingly (for some reason) the only one in the country. One day, a terrified and exhausted young woman comes into your office. She tells you that she's being haunted by a ghost that will kill her the moment she falls asleep and as such she hasn't slept in days. You have a natural radar for ghosts, and you can tell at a moment's notice that she is telling the truth. As a supernatural detective, this is the exact kind of case you solve on a regular basis. Being the hypercompetent detective that you are, do you:
A.) Give the woman a place to sleep and tell her that you'll protect her from the ghost.
B.) Calmly explain to the woman what's going on and offer an explanation as to how you can help her.
C.) Have your hypercompetent kid sidekick use one of her anti-ghost computer programs and delete the ghost by traveling into her mind (yes they do this later on)
D.) Let the woman go back home, attempt to call her several minutes later, realize that she fell asleep, get on your moped and rush over there, break open her door, pull out a gun and kill the ghost by shooting it. Also keep in mind that your kid assistant can literally teleport and is completely immortal, but she doesn't go over there to wake the woman up to help her until the exact second when the ghost nearly kills her.
If you picked D, you would be correct!
The manga is FILLED with this kind of storytelling. For a four-volume long manga, it's genuinely impressive how many plot holes and inconsistencies Esuno managed to put in there. EVERY chapter has shit like this, whether that be by contradicting information set up earlier or by having the characters make extremely stupid and needlessly convoluted actions without any sort of justification.
For another example off the top of my head, there's a major plot point in the latter half of the series where Hanako is cut off from having any sort of contact with Kanae by having her cell phone destroyed. Except that Hanako's entire thing is that she can teleport through toilets and we see her teleport to Kanae's apartment in the first chapter, begging the question as to why she doesn't just teleport to Kanae's apartment and talk to her in person. Or hell, the whole story kicks off with Hanako had contacting Kanae through internet chatrooms, but she isn't able to do it again for some reason? Speaking of Hanako, she's established in chapter 7 to be incapable of moving beyond a certain distance from a toilet (seems to be 10 to 20 meters judging by the panel), except 2 chapters prior we literally saw her at a movie theater. And later in chapter 17 we see her taking a hike with Asou and Kanae through the woods without a toilet anywhere in sight.
I can go on and on and ON listing every single plot hole and inconsistency in this manga. Did this shit even have an editor?
Arguably the single worst bit of storytelling from this manga is that I can't even tell you what an allegory is. Based on the way they describe it, I think they're supposed to be urban legends that come into reality if enough people believe in them. Except that the story is wildly inconsistent about it. At some points, allegories are treated as manifestations of your inner psyche (for example, a child whose parents are getting divorced has an allegory that's making her go blind because she doesn't "want to see" the world around her). But at other points allegories behave as standard monsters that try to hunt you down. But then at another point allegories are treated as literal ghosts (souls of the deceased) that for some reason need to act out the steps of an urban legend. But then at the manga's finale you have a guy somehow being able to do anything he wants by writing it in a book (not even a magical book. Just an ordinary diary) because it's a "story" even though no one had read it, but then it turns out that HE'S actually an allegory who the heroes defeat by saying "No u" or something? Or at one point Asuo makes a big deal about how they can only "solve" an allegory if they figure out the victim's personal problem that's causing it, except that he had solved several allegories before that point by just shooting them with a gun?
The whole "ghost detectives" thing is a fairly straightforward premise, yet Esuno managed to fuck it up THIS bad. It's legitimately impressive.
Conclusion
In conclusion... read Dark Gathering instead. Hanako to Guuwa no Teller and Dark Gathering both deal with mostly episodic ghost hunting stuff and have extremely similar cast setups. Main team of 1 little girl, 1 adult man, and 1 adult woman. The little girl is a hypercompetent ghost hunter and the two adults have a romance subplot going on between them. Except the ghosts are actually consistent in how they behave, the writing isn't filled with inconsistencies and plot holes, and the characters are actually fun and charismatic. If you're a fan of this manga and somehow managed to read to the end of this review, I feel like you would probably enjoy Dark Gathering a lot more.
I can't in good conscience give this manga anything above a 1/10. I don't HATE it, but it's so bafflingly incompetent that giving it anything above a 1/10 feels like I'm being too generous. It's a trainwreck. A trainwreck that's fun to watch and pull apart, but a trainwreck nevertheless.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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May 24, 2024
Shark is an extremely competent martial arts webtoon. Unfortunately, only the first 2 seasons are fully translated into English at the time of me writing this, but even from just those two seasons I can tell that this is a very well-executed story that I highly recommend if you're looking for a good martial arts story.
Story
To briefly summarize the plot, our protagonist, Cha Woosol, enters a new school, optimistic about his life going forward. Unfortunately, it turns out that Bae Seokchan, his old middleschool bully, also happened to transfer to that same school, Woosol's own class no less. After class, Seokchan corners Woosol and promises
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to continue bullying him just as he did in middleschool. Woosol, fully convinced that Seokchan is going to kill him, is driven by the primal instinct of survival and stabs Seokchan in the eye with a pen when the latter's guard is down. In a fit of blind panic and rage, Woosol repeatedly stabs Seokchan all over his body and attempts to kill him, but the other students step in and stop him. Woosol is sent to three years in juvie for attempted murder. Now, Seokchan is genius boxing prodigy but, thanks to Woosol, is now blind in his right eye and is no longer able to pursue his career in boxing. Seokchan, having his future ruined, visits Woosol in prison and promises to murder him the second Woosol steps out. Woosol, now having his life threatened by an extremely dangerous and violent individual, is determined to save his own life and desperately seeks out the help of a famous MMA fighter, who happens to be imprisoned with Woosol, to train him to fight and protect himself.
Now, you might look at that description and think "Okay so this is just another revenge-porn power fantasy webtoon about a weak MC who gets overpowered in an offscreen training montage and then effortlessly beats the shit out of his bully." And let me just tell you upfront, Shark is NOT a power fantasy. While Woosol does get stronger certainly, it's never executed with an offscreen training arc or some shit. The audience is actually taken for the ride in every step of Woosol's training in prison. You see him learn to throw a punch for the first time. You see him deal with the internal politics of prison gangs. You see him develop friendships with his mentor and fellow prisoners. Like, the entire first season is mainly about Woosol in prison. While that may sound boring, there's a lot of stuff going on with the supporting cast both in and out of the prison. Which brings me to the aspect where I think Shark succeeds the most.
Characters
When you get down to it, Shark is a character driven story about growth and learning from your mistakes. All the characters are interesting, memorable, and well-rounded. Earlier I mentioned that Woosol spends a lot of time dealing with the internal politics of the prison, and one thing that was extremely refreshing about this was that all the characters Woosol meets in the prison actually end up mattering. All of them become mainstays over the course of the series. Their stories don't solely revolve around Woosol like so many other webtoons tend to do. They all have their own lives and aspirations going on. You see them develop their own skills and progress as people. I can't go into any specifics because this isn't a spoiler-heavy review, but Shark is definitely a story that rewards you getting invested in its cast, which is really nice to see in a ocean of power fantasy stories which continually shaft their supporting cast to make the MC look cooler.
I also want to include a section just talking about Seokchan, Woosol's bully. Now, the whole "bully revenge" subgenre of manhwa has a pretty bad reputation, and for good reason. So many of these stories have these shallow, one-dimensional antagonists who exist purely to torment the MC so the audience will feel good when the MC kills them, invariably with the bully crumpling down into a pathetic coward who breaks down when things don't go their way. It's MAYBE enjoyable the first time you see it, but it quickly gets boring and stale. I bring this up because holy shit I fucking LOVE Seokchan. Make no mistake, he's a piece of shit. But holy fuck do I love him. Seokchan isn't some one-dimensional coward who spends his life coasting off mommy's and daddy's coattails and has everything handed to him on a silver platter. No, Seokchan is a genuinely dangerous violent individual who will attack ANYONE who looks at him the wrong way, consequences be damned. Like, this is someone who will pick a fight with adult gangsters just for the sake of having someone strong to fight against. Even when he goes up against the boss of the organization, he doesn't give a shit who he's up against and he attacks him. Say what you will about him as a human being, but the guy has absolute balls of steel and is more than capable of holding his own in a fight. So many times with series like this, the antagonist/rival just kinda rests on their laurels while the main character is getting stronger. But no. Seokchan is training just as hard, if not harder, than Woosol is. He's a terrible person, sure, but he's a total badass who actually grows and develops as a character alongside the rest of the cast. I can't go into specifics for the sake of spoilers, but Seokchan is a great character. Shit, I think as far as "martial arts rival" characters go, Seokchan might just be my favorite, like, in general. The story never tries to make you think he's anything other than a wild bloodthirsty thug and you definitely want to see him get knocked down a couple pegs, but every time he's on screen you're paying attention and guessing what he's gonna do.
Finally, I want to talk about Woosol. Woosol is a character who's very easy to like. He's kind and friendly, but even more than that he's the kind of character who's genuinely inspiring. So many times in martial arts manhwa the main character has an offscreen training arc and gets stronger in the blink of an eye, but that is not at all the case here. I said earlier that Shark is not a power fantasy, and what I mean by that is that we actually see Woosol slowly but surely make progress as a fighter. We see Woosol starting out by making actually realistic goals and slowly work up from there. There's never any point where the story goes "Yep Woosol has done everything he needs to do. He doesn't need to make any more progress or put in any effort again!" No, it's made clear that Woosol getting stronger is because of a consistent work ethic that you repeatedly see over the course of the series. You're repeatedly shown his daily training schedule, which continually reminds the audience that Woosol's strength is something he ACHIEVED, not something that was given to him. His work ethic aside, another aspect of Woosol's character that I think is done well is the whole "killing instinct" thing. Like, you've probably seen that shit a hundred times in manga and manhwa where the MC is willing to kill someone if they're pushed far enough. That's sort of the case here, but what I like about it is that it's treated like an active flaw that Woosol needs to overcome. Woosol is a juvenile offender, and the criminal justice system is not gonna go easy on him if he slips up again and loses his cool like he did in highschool. It's a very refreshing spin on such a common trope, which is arguably a good way to describe Woosol overall. He's a great protagonist. Even if he's not the most complex character out there, he's a character who works great for the themes that the story is trying to convey. He's a very well-executed instance of "weak guy trains himself up from nothing."
Art
Now, I am not an artist, so I'm not the kind of guy who can offer any deep critique of Shark's art. I will say the art is pretty alright most of the time, even if there is the occasional instance where the fight choreography isn't easy to follow. There are a couple instances here and there where the art looks pretty rough, but it doesn't take away from the experience for me personally. Overall I think the art is PROBABLY the weakest point here (other than the really wonky english fantl), but it's not bad by any means. Now, I have peeked at some of the untranslated chapters that are coming out recently, and wow the artist really does get better at his craft as time goes on.
Overall
Shark is a great martial arts webtoon and I highly recommend it if you're interested in the genre. Shark is a series with great characters, great fights, and a legitimately positive message to tell the audience. If you're looking for a martial arts webtoon, then this is definitely one of the best ones out there. It's a shame that most of the series isn't translated into english right now (and the previous scanslator dropped it a year ago), but maybe it'll get picked up by a different scanslation group down the road or get an official localization. Overall, solid 9/10,
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 8, 2024
Really, really meandering and way longer than it needed to be.
Shutendoji, at its core, is a cute and charming spin on the tale of Princess Kaguya. I think if you were to lay out this manga's plot on paper and stick to the basic, overarching ideas, then you'd have a solid story on your hands. However, my problem with it is that there are so, so many plotlines which add absolutely nothing to the grand scheme of things.
There are things I liked about Shutendoji. It had some nice moments and a cute ending. I think if you were to trim a lot of the
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fat in this, you'd have a solid 4 or 5 volume manga on your hands. But holy shit someone desperately needed to tell Go Nagai to hold back his self-indulgence, especially in the last 3 volumes. There is SO much unnecessary shit that adds nothing to the narrative and only serves to waste your time.
Anyway I'd say if you're fine with a lot of self-indulgent fluff, then you would probably enjoy this manga more than I did. I didn't like this manga very much, but I can see why someone would feel differently.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 15, 2024
I really like Kindergarten Wars. It's an unapologetically silly comedy that consistently manages to be fun and make me laugh. A lot of the running gags, although extremely similar in setup and execution, are played JUST differently enough each time that it never feels stale. I'm
The characters are all fun and likable and have sympathetic backstories that do a good job at making you root for them. The story, in all honesty, is pretty basic but a series like this doesn't really need some super complex plot or anything. That being said, there have definitely been some lorebait hints of something deeper going on
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in terms of plot, but overall the series typically keeps its focus on "assassin kindergarten teachers fighting wacky assassins."
But what really makes this series stand out in my eyes is how, in between all the over the top comedy, it's VERY good at making you emotional when you least expect it. I'm gonna be vague about this so as to not spoil anything, but there was a string of chapters recently that actually made me cry, and I don't exactly cry easily from fiction (If you're caught up with this series, you know what I'm referring to here). Again, Kindergarten Wars IS a silly comedy, but part of what makes the series so good in my opinion is that it knows how to use the overall silly tone as a foundation to juxtapose darker, more tear-jerking moments. Both the silly comedy and the darker moments stand out due to juxtaposing each other, which I'm honestly all for.
So overall, really solid manga. I think out of all the "Assassin/spy SoL" series right now (I think that can be considered a subgenre at this point lol), this one is definitely my favorite. I recommend giving this one a try if you haven't.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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