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Feb 17, 2025
Smokin’ Parade is a strange manga, and not necessarily because of the graphic nature of its content; rather, that it ends up never really making any sense at all, and is just a confusing and tedious mess that constantly had me scratching my head.
The basic premise is simple, if a bit silly: in a not-so-distant future, people around the world who get prosthetic implants from a company called “Amenotori” often mutate into mindless, mascot-headed cyborg killing machines (dubbed “Spiders”), and a group of mercenaries with implanted weapon limbs (dubbed the “Jackalopes”) exist to hunt them down whenever they appear.
Already there are questions, right?
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Why the mascot heads? Why “Jackalopes?” What’s the point, here?
Sadly, Smokin’ Parade never really gives us an answer to these questions, nor many others. The writer and artist duo’s manga before this, Deadman Wonderland, is notorious for putting style over substance in similar fashion—but as a reader of both, I can easily say that Deadman Wonderland ends up having a great deal more intention than you might expect if you’ve only seen the anime. Sure, it’s edgy, and tends to tout that, but it has a kind of cohesion that makes all its sillier elements interesting. Smokin’ Parade never approaches this balance.
Don’t get me wrong, it has no lack of style and aesthetic; often flaunting genuine top of the line art that is consistent with what Kataoka provides in many of her other works. However, meaninglessness pervades in a way that the artwork cannot save. There isn’t very much to latch onto in the way of story or characters: the emotional storytelling is juvenile and slapdash, often beginning and ending arcs for random characters way too quickly, or just having a general lack of direction from the getgo. First we’re dealing with Spiders, then another group of mercenaries that act as a foil to the Jackalopes, but, wait, they’re connected? But the characters that connect to the protagonists show up for like, three chapters and then aren’t seen again? Then it doesn’t matter and there’s a big Spider out somewhere that needs to be killed, and then… uh, THAT doesn’t matter either, then the world’s ending? There’s no plot direction at all, with things happening randomly and either not getting resolved, or getting resolved as soon as they’re introduced.
What makes me sad is that there are often good ideas in this story: the cost of transhumanism, the “scientists only thought about if they could, not if they should,” shebang, you could even make a case for this manga sorta-maybe-kinda analyzing the effects of Big Pharma, and the dangers of corporate medicine. There’s cool ideas about prosthetics, grueling human experimentation (that could’ve been more impactful), and a protagonist that—admittedly—is more than likely a sociopath… but nothing here gets the time and depth it deserves, nothing is explored to its fullest. And I just don’t know why? The duo has shown they’re capable of making something interesting even if it’s framed by meaningless violence: in Deadman Wonderland’s case, even if the premise and ideas were absurd, the absurdity was constantly lampshaded, and many nuances were expanded upon in ways that felt logical. The power system makes sense, the characters have page time, and their motivations make sense, even the silly naming conventions (like “Branch of Sin,” all the Deadmen being named after birds, etc.) make sense. The setup, the conflict, powers, and, yes, even the goddamn naming conventions: none of it in Smokin’ Parade feels like any more than a slapdash excuse to get the “cool” imagery Kataoka and Kondo wanted into manga. Imagery of edgy cyborgs with animal heads getting chopped up by edgy cyborg people. It’s just lazy.
Is it fair to keep comparing a manga to the creators’ previous work? Normally I’d say no, but there’s such a little departure in ideas and style that I couldn’t help but constantly think “Deadman did this better” as I read through the story. The whole thing just ends up feeling not very cohesive, and forced.
In the end, Smokin’ Parade is a gorgeous manga with interesting action scenes that is constantly on the cusp of having good ideas, but which are always sabotaged by its own lack of coherency. So much so that I’d consider it below average, and not generally worth reading, even if it's cool to look at.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 4, 2025
Enidewi (or “Eniale and Dewiela” in English) is the first manga series by Kamome Shirahama, who created Witch Hat Atelier, a fantasy manga I think is honestly quite incredible. In this angel and demon fashionista/best frenemies manga, Enidewi, she not only struts her witty sense of humor, but also her impeccable art.
This isn’t the manga to read for super complex storytelling, but what it does have is *clever* storytelling. Eniale, the airheaded angel—and Dewiela, the seductive demon—make a perfect comedic duo in a series of hi-jinks (and often some deeper moments too) that flaunt a stylistic look that can’t be found elsewhere.
Truly, Shirahama's
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art style makes this manga. The character designs are whimsical and gorgeous, and the landscapes and linework are just as beautiful. The story has the kind of premise that really could be turned into a longer manga with a more complex plot, or it could have continued on with its episodic structure for volumes and volumes. It’s a little sad to see that it didn’t continue in either direction, but three volumes does make it a very digestible, easy read.
However, some chapters really are better than others. I can’t say its the most impressive manga out there, nor exactly profound… I also think the demographic of this manga is really hard to place, because it reads like something aimed at women, but is also kinda not… it’s difficult to articulate what I mean. But if you want something with a firm grip on its style, look no further.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 25, 2025
Potential. A very loaded word, if you think about it. Who determines what does and doesn’t have the -potential- to be something great? While few things achieve everything they set out to, I don’t think it’s an unfair perspective to say that the seed of greatness can be found within most pieces of art. Whether it’s a beautiful, life-changing painting, the Great American Novel™, a corporate-garbage TV program, or pulp comics printed in newspaper-quality magazines. Everything has the potential to be something to someone, right?
It SHOULD be this way, but life is not always so fair. So what about when that potential is cut
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short? When the people in charge of a story’s publication pull the plug prematurely, and say, “No. It never had a chance.” Such a thing leaves behind a miasma, a sort of scent of regret that seeps up toward the reader from the author’s very words. The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, is a good example of this.
Made up of a scant three volumes, The Hunters Guild: Red Hood ends up having three very clear phases to its story. The first stage, here, is setup: as to be expected. Red Riding Hood, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, dark, dark woods, werewolves, witches, giants, dragons, and the Van Helsing-esque organization that hunts them: that is what this manga’s world is made of. Though seeing western fantasy in manga is nothing new, I did find it a bit of a breath of fresh air in a magazine that is positively (and expectedly) full of Japanese-ness. Katana swordfighting, Shinto demons, martial arts, and all accompanying Asian mythos—it seems there’s no end to it in Shonen Jump. But of course, it’s a Japanese magazine, so it’s gonna be there, you know? So having a Grimm’s Fairy Tales/Little Red Riding Hood manga should be a standout in this roster, a reprieve of sorts… in theory.
And for what it’s worth, that first volume is indeed good setup. The art is deeply reminiscent of a one Kohei Horikoshi’s of My Hero Academia fame (which is fitting, considering that the creator of this manga, Yuuki Kawaguchi, was his assistant) and leaves a bit to be desired, but it’s by no means bad. You have a basic conflict, interesting monsters, and a generic protagonist, but stirred together they amount to that one promising word: potential.
Sadly, the entire second volume is terribly boring, flaunting one of the most by the numbers, cookie-cutter attempts at a training arc I’ve ever read. As I trudged through the chapters I couldn’t help but think, “yeesh, no wonder this got canned.” It takes place in an uninteresting area with uninteresting characters, bereft of the off-color fairytale qualities the first volume had in spades. It overall was not a good place to take the story hot off the heels of fun action scenes between freaky-looking werewolves and the hunters that kill them.
But then in the third volume, things get weird. The manga seemingly had been taking its time to set up the world. It had even introduced three named antagonists. But then it makes such a wild headspin turn into metatextuality that I can literally feel Kawaguchi’s desperation and regret leaking out onto the pages, bleeding into the fabric of the story. Anyone with an interest in this title has more than likely heard about the meta nature of the ending, but I wasn’t prepared for how much pity it would arouse from me. And if you somehow didn’t know, the reason this manga is so short is because Shonen Jump, the publisher, axed it not long after it was greenlit. So the entire climax of the story is a desperate scramble to wrap up loose ends in the most unique way possible. The work culture of the manga industry is brutal indeed, and all I was thinking as I finished reading this title was that the author is but one of many victims of a very competitive industry.
I do think there was value in this story, certainly, and if you generally like shonen manga or western fairy tales, then it’s worth the read. I think the ending saves it from mediocrity, but instead makes it somewhat bizarre. The one emotion I’m left with, however, is sadness for the mangaka at his inability to draw a long, fun story he could fully flesh out. Sadness that his bosses said “no.” Not everything can be as long as One Piece, I get it, but I keep going back to that one word—potential—and wondering just what this little story could’ve been, if given more time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 22, 2025
Love is in the air, my friends, and for once, I’m here for it.
Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, is a high school romance manga I picked up on a whim. Why? Simple—as a long-time reader of almost exclusively shonen, I wanted to expand my horizons. It’s a story you’ve heard a thousand times: while I love manga dearly and read it every day, I’ve never read a shojo title. Shocking, I know. Not that I’ve never held one in my hands, or read a tankobon or two, but it definitely has never gone beyond that. This is the first shojo manga I’ve read
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to completion.
And I enjoyed it! A lot more than I expected to. I can’t exactly give a fair commentary on how this manga compares to others in its demographic, because my knowledge is only cursory. I did notice that it has many clichés, but they never took away from how easy it was to fall for the characters. Satomi and Yagyu are adorable and I loved them. They (and their friends) are teenagers of course, so it goes without saying that they can often be shallow. However, even with this lack of maturity I found myself very willing to “buy the illusion,” so to speak; to get invested in the first-crushes and first-kisses of high schoolers, even though I am now quite removed from this stage of life. Seriously! I’m not used to stories where the romance IS the plot, and sometimes it bordered on being a little bit much, but then I’d sit back and find myself smiling that Satomi got flustered, or that she and Yagyu hit a milestone in their relationship, and I’d happily keep reading.
Now, as a grown ass man, I couldn’t help myself from wanting to see this relationship develop into adulthood, reaching deeper depths, more road bumps, stronger dedication to one another, etc, but I accept that this is not really the product I paid for. It’s a story to sit down with after a hard day and get lost in. Escapism in its purest form, because altogether it is VERY low on drama.
There was a bit of a curveball though, because a little more than halfway through the story the manga shifts focus onto a different couple, which I actually had a hard time settling into. The dynamic of the main couple is very standard, the heroine a goody two-shoes and the love interest a bit of a gentleman, so it was fun to see something cheekier with the second couple. Their dynamic was more about conflict, miscommunications and teasing. However, I can’t help but wish the manga had just picked a couple and stuck with them the whole way through. At nine short volumes, it felt somewhat like Miria and Noda took up time Satomi and Yagyu could’ve had instead, ESPECIALLY considering one of the last chapters… but I digress.
The art is standout to me. I’ve been so trained on harsher/more action-focused styles that I tend to shy away from the light, flowery linework of most girl’s manga, but the character designs in Ima Koi were top notch. The girls are cute and the boys are handsome, and they’re drawn expertly. Basic, yes, but it had a sort of versatility to it that wasn’t too bubbly or feminine. (Which are not bad things to be, but I won’t pretend like it’s necessarily for me).
Altogether, this was enjoyable. The cute moments of each chapter are great fun, and while it may have sometimes been a bit uneventful or had a hiccup, it never took too much away from the journey. Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, is nothing life changing, but I wish it were longer, which is a high compliment indeed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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