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I actually discovered this manga about 3 years ago when only 2 volumes were officially available in English and was immediately hooked on Bambi and the world of atsushi kaneko. I was intrigued initially by the bold art style but was drawn in by the action and western inspirations from music and presumably movies and comics. I would compare the vibe of this manga to Tank girl or Kill Bill. I honestly would have thought this manga would have been more popular IN the west because of these theme elements, or at least have had a finished English localization. If it wasn't for the ... fan translation from Ainikki this year, I genuinely thought that I'd never get to finish reading this manga unless I learned Japanese.

Atsushi Kaneko is very successful at painting a rotten world in Bambi and her Pink Gun with the griminess of the world riddled in consumerism, corruption, war, and idol worship. Of course Bambi takes centre stage in my mind and I absolutely love the diversion of morally questionable protagonist. A teenage girl who seemingly acts a fool but is an unstoppable killing machine is one of the reasons why I'd kept this manga in the back of my mind for this long until getting to finally read it. She doesn't bat an eyelash at the sight of explosions and blood, and willingly puts pampi and civilians in danger in order to get what she wants and I actually love that. It's just so punk rock.

Normally, I'm disinterested in most action comics as it tends to become a "villain of the week" scenario (especially in manga) but I was genuinely interested in almost every antagonist stalking Bambi. I thought every character coming after her were more than just throwaway-able bad-guys and kind of added to the intrigue of "this is the type of person who would throw their life away to get 5 hundred million yen." There were plenty of "normal" people who were willing to kill to get this money also and I was always interested in their stories just as much as Bambis.

The only reason I'm giving it a 9 as a opposed to a 10 is just because I felt a little confused by the role of Gabba King in the story (But I guess it only adds to the bizarre themes in the manga as a whole) But otherwise I'd still consider Bambi an unforgettable manga and an instant fav. Bambi and her pink gun is naturally the most punk rock mangas I've ever read, and I'm excited to keep reading kanekos work in the future.

Instantly became one of my favourite mangas, and I tend to reread it when I feel a certain way. Its been a while since I’ve read a manga so tearfully honest and heartbreaking with its stories about these foster kids living their lives knowing they’ve truly been abandoned. Although these characters aren’t real these are true feelings that any young person can feel especially real children who have felt alone.

Without saying anything too personal I sympathized with these kids as someone whose felt a disconnect with my own family, so although these characters aren’t real it was kind of validating to know that there’s ... people that feel the same way I do.

Frankly, it took me a little while to get into it just because i wasn’t too fond of the art style but it grew on me gradually and kind of fits the childhood theme with its scribbly lines and watercolour.

If I wasn’t recommended this manga from a trusted friend I would not have given it a chance or endured so much just to finish this manga. In fact I kind of wish I hadn’t read it.

I feel like everyone who has a high review of this manga either lacks the intelligence to understand the distinction between true ero guro and something created solely to be edgy and offensive with no true purpose in its writing. I have a rule of thumb that if a horror manga is dependant on sexual violence it’s just a piece of shit and thats that. But this particular ... manga has always left me with complicated feelings just because I really do think there’s interest and merit in certain story themes but it just tended to drag into the sheer violence of misogyny and sexual assault.

This is just one of those mangas I would never mention unless the person I was talking to about it was someone I really trusted to be talking about with such sensitive material.

I’ve always been interested in fashion and music so Parakiss kinda fulfills a lot of things for me in the manga department actually. I actually feel that this anime adaptation was the strongest between Nana and Gokinjo Monohatari to be quite honest.

Comparisons aside, I find that this anime was the most enjoyable to watch not only because it’s the artistically faithful but because the ambience was sooo appealing. Music direction is so top tier in this anime and really instills a cool vibe throughout the show with the sound design and reverberation of Arashis songs in the background. I wasn’t expecting a kind of ... laid back sound from Arashis punk band but It’s ridiculously addicting, cannot recommend the original band ‘THE BABYS’ enough.

Every character is so charming and has their own ways of following their own ambitions and it’s refreshing to see a protagonist actually navigate her life in a realistic organic way as a teenager. I’ve never actually stayed on Ai Yazawas work for the actual Shoujo aspect, because I’m more intrigued by how realistic and flawed she makes her characters and act in adult ways. I felt like seeing these kids work hard and take themselves seriously as artists really inspiring. This is just one of those animes I rewatch to reinvigorate myself to keep making art I think haha.