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Apr 28, 2024
In true Akasaka fashion, this manga presents the same qualities and flaws as Kaguya-sama, but with a bit more flaws this time
Overall enjoyment : 9/10
As always with Akasaka's works, the story talks about a group of young boys and girls that need to wear social masks in order to fit in a world made by adults.
Despite all of the flaws listed below, Oshi no Ko is one of my favourite manga. It is safe to say that it fell off and that the plot is currently stalling, but the beginning was so good and I'm so invested in the characters that I'm still enjoying it.
The
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way it tackle difficult subjects like suicide and sexual abuse is a big part of it. It doesn't try to sugarcoat it or demonize the industry, but rather explains why it is so wicked.
It is not a read I would give a blind recommendation for, since your enjoyment of the manga will vastly depend on what you're looking for. But if you're seaching for a dark and thrilling story about the dark side of the japanese industry, this is for you !
Story : 7/10
Akasaka-sensei always has this tendency of making the plot slow down a lot during the second half of his works. It's hard to say if it's from the PTSD of Instant Bullet's ending or if he doesn't want it to end yet, but it makes the story quite repetitive. For a weekly read it's not that bad, but if you read it in one go you'll definetly notice it.
The plot tackles difficult subjects like suicide, sexual abuse and murder in the japanese entertainment industry. It doesn't really try to demonize, empathize of correct those behaviours, but it shows them from the percepective of the people working in this industry. You can really see Yokoyari-sensei's impact on Akasaka's writing as the manga isn't as light-hearted as Kaguya-sama.
The manga sometimes introduces plot-holes that kinda break the plot when you think to much about them. I can overlook past them, but I can understand that it can throw some people off.
Characters : 8/10
The characters suffer a lot from the plot's pacing. The early part is very good, but as of now they repeat their character arc and don't evolve much.
It seems like Akasaka as a hard time focusing on multiple character growths at a time. It was also the case in Kaguya and you could clearly see a shift after chapter 161, but I didn't notice it as much at the time.
Art : 10/10
I already enjoyed Yokoyari's art in Kuzu no Honkai and I'm glad Akasaka chose her to illustrate his work. Some of her panels are simply stunning.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 23, 2024
This review is spoiler-free.
For reference, this is my favourite manga arc of all time, so I expected a lot from it. Sadly, it is also the classic case of a manga arc which isn't long enough for a 13 episodes batch, but at the same time not short enough for 90 minutes movie. This movie adapts from chapter 136 to 161, a nightmare for any studio trying to tackle the issue since there's a lot that needs to be cut.
Even without prior knowledge of the manga, I believe you will feel that the pace is a bit rushed. Scenes flow very quickly, but the movie
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also knows what scenes are most important and takes its time to faithfully adapt them. Since the story was divided into a main plot and a sub plot, A1 simply cut the sub plot and will most likely come back to it in Season 4. The cut content is barely noticeable aside from one specific scene where A1 couldn't do much better.
I truly believe they did all they could given the limited air time and I can only thank them for doing such a difficult and ungrateful job. Let's hope we get a re-cut when Season 4 is finished so that we can have a complete experience.
As for the story, it hit so close to home that it would be difficult for me to give it an objective rating. I relate so much to Muyki's mentality and this arc shaped the man I am now. I do believe that everyone can relate to the main characters and that many of you will be deeply moved by their struggles.
The animation was very good, but nothing ressembling movie quality. It is more like a short season released on the silver screen before TV.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 17, 2023
Written by the legendary Nisio Isin, I had big expectations for this new manga. The story takes place at a cypher school where the main guy (yes, it's a guy) enrolled.
Reading a Nisio Isin story often takes a lot of brainpower due to the sheer amount of text, subtext, references and writer notes, but this manga takes it to the extreme. Almost every page has a note to explain what is going on. From an artistical point of view it's quite impressing to see the love and attention Nisio Isin puts into writing his stories. But from a reader perspective it doesn't make for such
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an enjoyable experience.
Being in a cypher schools, you're prestented with a lot of cyphers that the caracters play with. But while a few cyphers can be decoded on your own, most of them require a stupid amount of knowledge about japanese culture, japanese alphabet and a lot of other languages (braille, music,..). It does a really good job at portraying how talented the caracters are but I guess I would've liked some cyphers to be a bit easier since it's fun to decode them.
On the caracter side, it's still early in the story to have fully fledged out caracters but Nisio Isin always delivers at making you attached to complex caracters.
The art is pretty basic for the most part but some panels are absolutely gorgerous.
I'm not sure if I should recommend you to read this. The cyphers and their explaination are quite hard to understand but the story remains quite entertaining.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 12, 2023
I'm writing this while 13 chapters are realeased, for now this manga looks very promising.
It will definetly not please everyone, the main guy does a lot of shit that would get him into prison in our western countries. At least things don't wait to escalate and you will know after the first chapter if this is for you or not.
This manga gives a lot of Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish) vibes if you catch my drift. Both caracters are quite unsure of what they want in a relation and they struggle a lot to find themselves while trying not to get hurt. This struggle is
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what makes the story interesting despite of everything that happens.
On the art side it's pretty tame. It's not bad by any means but you could find it in most manga.
This will definetly please mature readers that like fucked up caracters doing fucked up things.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 5, 2022
As a big fan of Kaguya and Oshi no Ko, I wanted to learn about Akasaka's previous works. I fully expected to find the growing pains of a developping author, but I never expected I would find such a gem.
It is quite hard to talk about this manga since the ending was so rushed. You can clearly see as you enter the fifth volume that things had to end fast. But the potential was there and even with the rushed ending, Akasaka managed to share a story packed with more character development in 27 chapters than most manga have.
This manga is driven by the strengh
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of its characters and the twists of its plot. The characters will often spend the entire chapter talking about the scars of their pasts and how it affected them. Since just about everyone has a dark backstory, this manga can seem quite edgy sometimes but I thought it walked that fine line quite nicely.
The story talks about love and empathy, what it means so be stripped of the means to express them and how they are important for people to be happy. It can seem at times a little hard to understand since it's mostly metaphors and setting but it does the job quite nicely.
The plots is quite good at the beginning and manages to keep you on the edge of you seat by dropping hints at what might come next through a certain character. It is quite a ride of emotions and you can clearly see the potential that the story had before it was cancelled.
Overall I enjoyed this manga quite a lot for his breathtaking plot and how deep the development of the characters was in such a short amount of chapters. This manga had more character development in mearly 27 chapters than most mangas have in 150.
Akasaka's words at the end were quite painful to read as he seemed to like this project a lot and it's amazing to see how he managed to bounce back with Kaguya-sama. The author always said that he would get back to Instant Bullet eventually, and now that Kaguya is over and Akasaka passed auditions to find an artist to draw his next story, I'd say it's reasonnable to expect a reboot of Instant Bullet in this coming year and I'm very hyped for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 22, 2022
This anime radiates best girl energy. Cloverworks are still very good at making the best possible girl.
This show is mostly carried by its visuals and fan-service. Marin is super cute and it's hard not to find attractive or smile when she smiles at the camera. The backgrounds are very good and the sound design is great as well.
The story of this show is about a boy that makes dolls and is traumatized because he was onced looked down upon by his classmates for his hooby. Once in high school his hobby is discovered by the main girl and she asks him to help her with
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her cosplays because she's bad at it.
The story is pretty much as basic as it gets and for now there's not really a catch to it. Maybe it will improve by the end of the season.
Our MC is the classic protagonist with no friends. It is said that he's traumatized by a event in his childhood, but it's not really clear if that event made him afraid of talking about his passion or afraid of having friends. For now there's not really any depth of character.
With all of that said, if you're looking for a good rom-com from Cloverworks, you're better off with Horimiya or Bunny Girl Senpai. For now this show is on a slow start but maybe the MC will stop being a total wimp by the end of the season.
The show is carried 100% by his visuals and aside from that there's not really a lot to it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 5, 2022
Story : 7
For now the story is really carried by its characters.
This first season spends a lot of time giving us elements about the mystery and building the characters.
The middle of this season becomes quite repetitive : Tooru meets a character, eventually finds out about this character's insecurities and solves them by showing him kindness and compassion. That doesn't mean this season is boring, it just means that the plot becomes quite predictable for the most part.
The build up starts to pay off at the end of the season and probably in the second season, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Art :
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7
The characters are really cute and the backgrounds are awesome.
It doesn't really stand out but it knows where to put the budget on the memorable scenes. Nothing much to say overall.
Sound : 8
Some OSTs are quite good and blend well with the emotions of the scenes and know when to be discrete.
Characters : 9
The big seeling point of the show.
Tooru is often too kind for her own good and it can be frustrating at times but she experiences great character developpment through the season.
Aside from Kagura I didn't find any character to be insufferable and she gets better by the end.
It is sometimes unsettling that every character in this show has a tragic past, but it is justified by their situation and it makes for great sequences where we can learn about the mystery bit by bit.
Overall : 8
I thought I was going to give this a 7 but the end pushes it towards an 8 for me. This season is somewhat of a tearjerker at times but it does it so well I can get behind that.
It does a good job at building the characters and setting up the mystery so the next seasons can shine. Time will tell if all this build up was worth it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 31, 2021
Being arguably the face of anime right now and being adapted by one of the greatest studios, Demon Slayer has a lot on his shoulders. I enjoyed the first season and the movie, but I thought the anime was mostly carried by Ufotable and had very little redeeming qualities outside of the art.
Now that the second season is airing, did it improve on its flaws or has ufotable been given another bad story to adapt ?
Story - 5
The story isn't really bad, it's just very average and not appealing. I didn't get to enjoy it a lot since I dropped this show on the third
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episode. The conext of the entertainement district might be good though.
Art - 8
Ufotable. Do I need to elaborate ?
Sound - 7
The soundtrack is still very decent and the sound of the blades clashing is still orgasmic. The OP doesn't seem as catchy is Gurren but it's still good.
Characters - 0
By far the biggest problem of this show.
First, the tone is very poorly managed with emotionnal scenes being followed by comic scenes with a 10 seconds interval.
Second, this show probably has the worst dialogues I've ever heard. I think the author tried to do comedy, but failed to understand the border between comic and cringe. It's like every character tries to be a comic relief. Words would fail to describe the absolute state of this show's dialogue. In the first season, Tanjirou was the exception and his lines were spot on, but this time even he fails to deliver.
Everyone is always making a joke or something funny, no one is ever serious. This doesn't allow the show to build up tension and makes everything feel like it has no importance.
Unless you're a young kid, I have no idea how you would do to watch this show without hoping that everyone were mute. Once the fighting starts and everyone stops talking the animation will probably be marvelous but dear god the author has no idea how to write compelling characters and dialogues.
Overall enjoyment - 3
I love Ufotable. I've watched Heaven's Feel countless times and I was excited to see that they got to adapt such a titan of the manga industry.
Sadly, the story they were given is a very bad one and even the talent of Ufotable can't make up for it. I guess they need the money for better projects and that they will come back with an adaptation of a way better work.
As for Demon Slayer, I dropped this show after the third episode and won't come back to it. I will probably watch the fight scenes on YouTube, this show is quite good when the characters don't talk.
It really says a lot when even a story adapted by Ufotable is unbearable to watch. If this anime was adapted by an average studio like JC Staff no one would care about it. We deserve this studio to get a better story to adapt.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 19, 2021
"They had us in the first half, not gonna lie" is a sentence that could perfectly describe the writing of 5-toubun no Hanayome. For the first 90 chapters, the manga was pretty good. It had some flaws obviously, but was very enjoyable and promised a great future.
But then, the festival arc came, and it only went down from here.
Also, massive spoilers ahead, you know the deal.
For the first half of the manga, I think we can all agree that it was pretty enjoyable. We were promised an ending immediatly, and we had to figure out what girl was going to marry Fuutarou based on the
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elements we were given throughout the manga.
To be fair with Negi, this must have been a tough story to tackle. Balancing a good amount of mystery with a good amount of romance, while developping 6 characters was definitely not an easy task, and oh boy did he fail at that.
The problem is that the more you work on the romantic side of the story, the more the mystery of who will win becomes obvious, and it was pretty obivous who would win. So when Fuutarou made his decision, I thought one of those two things would happen :
- He wouldn't chose anyone. A realistic assumption considering Fuutarou never showed any romantic interests towards any of the girls. And that would mean that he would chose a girl later in the story. Sadly there were only a handful of chapters left.
- Or he would chose Nino, the only realistic choice at that point. It wouldn't make any sense for Miku's character arc to be with him at that point, Ichika didn't stand the chance, and Yotsuba and Istuki were never in the race to begin with.
More than anything, I think Fuutarou's decision arrived much too soon in the manga. Like I said, he didn't seen to have any romantic interests, and it didn't make any sense for his character to make this choice at that point. He wasn't oblivious the the quints' feelings, but it didn't feel like he liked anyone. This manga needed at least 2 more volumes for Fuutarou to developp some romantic interests to give a satisfying ending to the story.
And just like that, he chose Yotsuba, even Shyamalan wouldn't make a plot twist this dumb.
I have no problem with Yotsuba winning the race in itself, I have a problem with how it was done and why Fuutarou chose her. There were ways to make any quint win in a satisfying way, but sadly this didn't happen.
For the whole manga, Yotsuba was pretty much a background character, and it didn't change one bit with this decision. She is exactly the same in the first chapter as she is in the last. A typical Genki girl that would be good a side character and a plot tool to make the story move, but lacks the depth to be a main character. She has no progression, no character arc, nothing. She doesn't even have a job in the last chapter of the manga, she just lives with Fuutarou, and that's it.
In the chapter after he made his decision, Fuutarou explains that he chose her because he would've collapsed long ago if it wasn't for her. Okay, fair enough, but how doesn't that apply to Miku and Itsuki as well ? Sure Yotsuba helped him get the quints together, but Miku and Itsuki did just as much if not more.
This ending is insulting. I don't have the slightest clue with Negi chose to do it this way. It just doesn't make any sense. If the manga really had to end quickly, it would've been better to make Nino the bride since it didn't need several volumes from that point to justify why they love would love eachother.
It wouldn't be a great ending but it would at least be satisfying.
After the festival arc, Nino even regressed in her character developpement when she gets heated over Yotsuba winning. Didn't she say that she would support anyone that wins ? Sure I can see her emotions getting the better of her like when she pushed Fuutarou in the water during the school trip, but at least make her regret the things she said to Yotsuba.
And during the wedding, she even cries when Fuutarou calls her during the last quint game ?? It's been 5 years and she's not over that already ?
This ending also leaves a lot of plot points unexploited.
Who kissed Fuutarou under the bell during the scrambled eggs arc ? Since Yotsuba won, it's supposed to be her, but it would be so out of character for her to do that. I guess you could say that she kissed him to make him see her sisters as potential romantic partners but that would be hard to believe. I think it as supposed to be Ichika, doesn't make sense for any other quint to kiss him in such a way.
Did Fuutarou learn that Yostuba was the girl he met 5 years ago and that Ichika didn't lie when she told him that she played with him ? I think that if Yotsuba has to be the bride, this should be a major plot point.
Did Fuutarou learn that Itsuki was playing Rena ? What was in her love charm that fell in the water ? What was the point of that story if it's left like that ?
Overall, 5-toubun no Hanayome was pretty enjoyable. The first 90 chapters were brilliant, Ichika, Miku and Itsuki had great character arcs and it was a very good premise.
Sadly, the ending was rushed and didn't deliver on the expectations. A very disappointing ending for what could have been the masterpiece of harem mangas.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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