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- LocationAria Company, Neo Venezia, Aqua
- JoinedOct 13, 2020
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Dec 3, 2021
Houseki no Kuni is a triumph of imagination paired with a mastery of the medium in which it is written. This manga is highly creative, extremely entertaining, and beautiful in its uniquely elegant style. Its also a thoughtful exploration of themes of life, loneliness, and loss of self. The main character, Phosphophyllite is fantastically realized and enthralling to follow but strong side characters also provide great support. Without spoiling anything, this manga evolves drastically around the halfway mark and that's where it earns its masterpiece status with me. I can't recommend this manga enough, just read it.
Story: 9.5/10
This story is a true joy to read
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and feels almost perfect. The writing is standout, juggling heavy themes and philosophies with a balance of humour and action. It's at times slower and more contemplative while also being ambitiously fast-paced. The humour always landed for me, making this manga funny quite often. The world is very interesting, with easily understandable main ideas but also lots of questions that get answered as you go further in. This manga has many moments that stand out and I definitely got hyped up several times.
Art: 9/10
The artwork in this manga is very stylized but is generally beautiful to look at. Black is used in a more defining role than I'm used to in manga, with many pages using white to outline detail while being black everywhere else. The style mostly works when it is trying to make things look beautiful or elegant but fights get chaotic and messy in a good way, while still being easy to follow. My only nitpick is it's not incredibly impressive at the start, especially coming from the gorgeous vibrant colours of the anime. Some characters look very similar to one another at a glance.
Characters: 9.5/10
This series is massively helped by its strong cast of likeable, interesting characters. The lead is Phos, a gem who is held back by their weak body and the unsatisfying life that they lead. As the story progresses Phos undergoes many changes and developments, with their carefree life being left in the dust. Phos's quest for the truth of their world, with their declining mental state, really carry this story in the best way possible. Phos is a perfect lead character. Other characters also have great parts to play in the story like Cairngorm, a tortured and broken soul struggling with themselves. Cinnabar is also great but I feel like for the moment they haven't lived up to their full potential as a character. The rest of the cast is good fun.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I came into this manga already a fan of its fantastic anime adaption but I was still deeply impressed by how good it was. The style the art was drawn in was really appealing and interesting to me. Like I mentioned already this story massively improves in the 2nd half, everything was so hype. Phos has become one of my favourite characters out of the medium.
I am not even disappointed by the current hiatus because it ended at a fantastic point but I still hope to read more in the future.
Overall: 9.5/10
This manga is brilliant and true landmark work, I recommend it highly to everyone.
Thank you to the author, Haruko Ichikawa for this amazing series.
Have a great day ya'll!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 30, 2021
Oshi no Ko is a terrifically written and engrossing dive into the modern Japanese entertainment industry, with a strong plot and characters. It's also an isekai but that aspect isn't used to its full extent and can be ignored. This manga is very entertaining and somewhat educational. The writer of the series, Aka Akasaka's talents are at their peak in his easily understandable presentation of modern social issues, reminiscent of his Kaguya-sama.
Story: 9/10
The story is the reason to read this manga. It has excellent pacing, great individual arcs that push the characters forward while exploring specific aspects of the industry like reality television and 2.5D
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stage plays. The manga's tone feels grounded in the real world and if it's not 100% factual on the productions depicted, it at least feels authentic. Modern social issues like social media harassment and getting cancelled are portrayed here from the view of those affected and it's incredibly interesting. Aka Akasaka is a fantastic writer on these types of subjects, keeping them interesting and realistic while still pushing the story forward.
Art: 8/10
The art of the manga is quite conventional but has a few stylistic flourishes that make it nice to view. The character designs are all nice, with good expressions. The pupils of the Hoshino family are made to be star-shaped, which is a cool design, and when Aqua gets angry they expand past his eyes. These flourishes make the characters look more interesting. When characters act their hearts out it usually looks good and recently some frankly stunning drawings have come out of this manga. It is similar in style to Kaguya-sama but has a different artist.
Characters: 8/10
The cast of characters in this manga is quite expensive but they generally get good development. Aqua is the main character and as someone reincarnated he has an interesting outlook on the world. His current plotline gives him the ability to go through all the different productions naturally. His sister Ruby has sadly fallen behind in her development and role in the story and she feels like a wasted character. A big aspect of her story was taken by Kana Arima which is unfortunate. Speaking of her Kana is the best character in the manga by far, starting as a spoiled child actor who is growing thanks to her meeting with Aqua. Her development is the most interesting so far.
Enjoyment: 8/10
This manga is very entertaining and has a strong cast of characters paired with good plotlines. The writing and modern subject matter are great and for the moment this manga stands out due to its exploration of these current issues. The fast pace of the series and short arcs keep it fresh and easy to read. Reading it weekly has been good so catching up isn't a problem but breaks are frequent if that's a problem for you.
Overall: 8.5/10
This manga is great and I recommend it.
Thanks to the writer Aka Akasaka and the artist Yokoyari Mengo.
Have a great day ya'll!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 15, 2021
Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru is a tender story about growing up and accepting oneself, both the good and the bad. As a romance, it relies more on implied feelings but as a human drama it is quite open in its primary theme, that being loneliness and how it affects people differently. I believe it is successful in displaying realistic characters with relatable problems and improves in quality as it goes along. I recommend this manga.
Story: 8/10
The story isn't very attention-grabbing at the start with slower pacing of events and no big moments, but like the characters it improves steadily as it goes on, becoming
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a genuine page-turner later on. It thankfully keeps most melodrama out of it, only relying on it when it becomes slightly believable. The major focus of the story is about growing up and accepting yourself which is displayed in both leads and the supporting cast. The feeling of loneliness, even when surrounded by others, is honestly displayed and well written. This manga isn't a tearjerker but it definitely has emotional weight.
Art: 9/10
This manga's art style is at minimum influenced but possibly inspired by Yoshitoki Ooima's Koe no Katachi. The main character at times looks exactly like Shouko Nishimaya, the latter series lead, which brought a chuckle or two out of me. Its possible inspiration aside, this manga is very well drawn, and when it comes to characters and emotional moments, it's gorgeous. The artist Makoto Hagino is very talented at character art and expression and the best shots in this manga generally involve completely white backgrounds with only a single character in the shot. These special panels generally come at emotional high points and majorly assist in letting them land. The aquatic critters are also drawn quite well, with even a smiley shark named George.
Characters: 8/10
This series has two female leads, Konatsu and Koyuki and they are about equal in development and depth, but I prefer Konatsu and her struggle with loneliness more than Koyuki who has had to live a life as someone she isn't truly. Kaede is a jolly friend of both who is a fun character in her own right with her own feelings. The family members of both girls also have a decent-sized presence which is appreciated. My main issue with the characters is the lack of an explicit answer about what type of relationship the leads are in.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I read this series because it popped up on recommendations with Bloom Into You, a yuri romance that was quite good, but the two series have few similarities. This manga isn't focused on romance, but more on other feelings and due to how well it handled its primary themes I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected. I didn't cry reading it but it hit hard and was relatable. The art is excellent and being only 34 chapters it wasn't overlong.
Overall: 8.5/10
This manga is excellent and I strongly recommend it.
This is my first review so my own writing is meh but I hope to improve.
Thanks to the Author, Makoto Hagino for making this manga.
Have a great day ya'll!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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