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To put it simply this is as good as Manga get. It is virtually impossible to find better art and a more detailed history. The level in this one is truly top notch.

This Manga's history simply revolves around relationships between different people amidst a turbulent era in Central Asia history. Much of it seen trough the lenses of a character traveling trough this territory.

Nevertheless don't let yourself fooled by this very simple and generic premise. This manga also is a monumental feat of historical, ethnographic and anthropological research. Add to that the sheer insanity of the details on the art and we get what ... i consider a masterpiece.

Reading trough chapters is very much like discovering Central Asia's culture while enjoying the best work a Mangaka can present to the world.

This is the sort of Manga you show people that love to hate on it. After a couple of chapters you can be assured that their entire perspective would have changed forever.

Who doesn't love it when, after trying to get hooked on 30 mangas that you end up abandoning in chapter 1, you find a random short story you never heard about that gets you trough an entire afternoon?

This is a very nice story that makes us think about our time alive on earth. 3 days of true bliss may be worth more than 30 years of meaningless existence that is nothing more than us waiting for our death.

Granted, i am a nihilist by nature and as such the main character's crucial decision hit close to my heart. If i had no family or people who ... really cared for me, i wouldn't mind following on MC foot steps.

I remember a story about a terminal cancer patient that had been living his best life during his final months. No worries about money. No anxiety about the future. Depression lift off as soon as the "trivial" pressures of modern life became meaningless. Has he had accepted his fate he was saying that for the first time in his life he was TRULY happy and begged his family to accompany him in his joyous state until his death.

And then, suddenly... He went in one of those rare miraculous remissions as his condition vanished as quickly as it came. And as simply as that all his issues came back. Work. Pressure. Bills to pay. Plans for the future. Mortgage.

This manga tells the same story. What his time? What is joy? What is the meaning of our lives?

By the end of it we should all know that it is better to live fully as we can and make our days count. Easier said than done right?

The only reason why this manga doesn't have a much higher rating is due to the fact that it has never been properly developed by the author. The story of Sasurai Emanon's project was fragmented across time and failed to be taken seriously.

Nevertheless the premise is fascinating and the art is simply the greatest Manga genre has to offer. This is a manga for mature people with a truly inspiring concept. For those who know the movie "Man of Earth" it is hard to not see the similarities between the stories. The movie came out one year before the Manga started to be published. Coincidence?

Reading ... this manga has gotten me wondering about universal consciousness and the unity of the universe. The way Emanon relates with people is also very real as this is a "real conversation" kind of manga. This adds to our will to believe that Emanon's story might very well be true in some sort of way.

Finally, this is the sort of Manga you hand out to that friend who's too good for Manga and always dismiss this art as being childish and shallow. I would absolutely love to see an in depth series as it does give some "Mushishi" vibes.

This is one of those hate it or love it anime. The considerable following it has is matched by those who hate it for some reason.

And by "for some reason" i probably think it's because of the ecchi that is abundant and turns those MAL critics off.

Elfen Lied is filled with strong emotions. It's a tragic cruel story of love above all. And that's what most people do not get. At it's core it's the narrative of a young girl who fell in love with a kind boy.

Around this we do have a very interesting plot where rivers of blood and cruelties of all ... sorts are thrown at us while, at the same time, we're facing the most innocent of vulnerabilities within people.

This story starts out with an out of control mass murdering by "people" that we are forced to hate. But soon after we will begin to see that the real monsters are us, Humans.

Elfen Lied forces us to consider the fact that there are always 2 sides of a coin. As the characters of the show illustrate the duality of our nature, so does the show as it is constantly playing with love and hate, cruelty and kindness, forgiveness and grudge.

And yes. The amounts of blood and top morbid cruelty, as well as the ecchi, is disturbing at times. But the fact that the show manages to balance it with the opposite feelings is very impressive.

Special note for the intro song and art. Absolutely beautiful.

First of all let me say that this a Manga for adults. Not only because of the graphic violence and gore or the abundant sex but also because it strangely takes some maturity to look back at your first love and see how it might have impacted you now that you are an adult.

I can relate with the author when it comes to the "trauma" that the very first powerful flame of love can produce. It might go buy unnoticed most of the time but deep down we never forget it. There's always THAT ONE PERSON that is stuck in our minds for no real ... reason.

It doesn't make sense and it wasn't probably that much of a thing in reality but we can't help it to find ourselves decades after daydreaming about those few moments that made our hearts skip a beat and our minds drift into endless imagination fueled by innocent love.

This is mostly why people will get hooked on this manga from chapter one. It appeals to feelings we all have buried inside and that we like to revisit times to times when nostalgia knocks at the door.

Besides that the surreal sci-fi supernatural development was a decent platform to build upon the most important subject which is the author's need to dump is very own first love trauma into a manga. All the violence that comes along might be a but unjustified and hard to relate to the subject of the manga. The graphic sex scenes are a not "fan service" but a result of that psychopathic world that was created to keep things somewhat interesting.

Granted, filler characters and the secondary plot don't connect well but it does keep you feeling like a roller coaster from beginning to end. This was one of those mangas that you will one shot and, as far as i am concerned, those are for me the best experiences.

It is very difficult, borderline impossible, to please everyone. Specially when talking about a follow up to the most iconic worldwide famous and influential anime in history that, to had explosives to the mix, saw generations of viewers grow and mature during the +30 years of it's existence.

The Dragon Ball franchise is indeed still to this day the most recognizable across the world as grandmas in south america, US, Europe or Australia will know Goku somehow. DB became part of Pop culture forever and this helps understanding all the mess that are most opinions about it.

From immense nostalgia that will make some rate ... it 10 out of 10 no matter what, to immense frustration because DBS fails to provide the same feelings than 10-20 years ago (mostly because viewers have matured along the way) resulting in very low ratings, one should focus and try to make a fair judgment of it.

That's where i come in.

DBS started by annoying people in 2 ways.

1- It tells once again the story of Battle of Gods and Revival of F.

* About that, people should know that the movies were made to "feel out" the public reaction to a new series. As it was a success and these movies were at the basis of a new story line, it would obviously be retold in the series once that most people didn't saw the movies. DBS is a complete story and could not start from a point that many would not know about. So, this should not be seen as a bad thing but a normal one.

2- Animation.

* It is universally known that some episodes, specially the infamous nº5, was a disgrace that shook Toei itself to the point that Toryiama had to speak out. Nevertheless, along the story of DBS, there as been marvelous animation too. Also, the process that is managing resources in an anime like this one is actually pretty normal and seen both in DBZ and many other long term running series. In other words, animation fluctuates depending of the team responsible for it and usually achieves it peak when the arcs are in key episodes. No one knowledgeable about anime will expect a long running series being done weekly to have the same degree of quality that shows with 12 episodes.

The impact of these 2 problems still remain to this day and strongly influence opinions across the board. Even if the new arcs have been very interesting (Goku black was amazing and one of the bests ever) and animation really improved.

Another thing that people always mention are the same old plot holes.

Again complaining abut that is kind of useless because they always were part of Dragon Ball. Even if they are annoying and piss off what is now an adult audience, fat is that much of the conversation about DB is made around these plot holes. And conversation, weather we like it or not, is what makes this anime popular and timeless.

In my opinion, DBS has been very good since the end of the movies retold. I ve seen character development, beautiful animations, epic moments, nostalgia to bring tears to the eyes, excitement and this childish curiosity about the next episodes that we all had when kids.

I truly appreciate what Toriyama is doing for the community and the way he gives what people WANT to see (Trunks moments, Vegeta moments, Goku breaking llimits, that fusion we all wanted to see, new births introducing characters as babies once again etc).

Anime, specifically Dragon Ball, is to me a door way to my childhood and teenage years. It brings me joy like no other anime can.

Although i am aware of it's flaws, i am also an adult that can separate them from basic judgemental rants and understand why they exist. A few poorly animated episodes and some minor plot holes are nothing when compared to what DBS has been doing for many millions of fans across the world.

I'll rate if 9/10 because of the fact that Super has been giving us many of the things we wanted to see, is successful in re creating the old nostalgia, has given character development and kept people hooked to it like always.

Really, nothing can top that. We must understand what DBS is in order to fairly rate it.

Rarely have i seen a series that left me so emotionally shaken. This manga is not for Kids or people who seek lighthearted stories. If you are in this kind of mood or immature, just run away from this.

What i often praise about the art of Manga and Anime is the easiness that these artists have in creating new stories and new unlimited emotional concepts. There are no barriers standing like the ones mainstream content suffers in the western world.

This anime is psychologically terrifying. It's a masochist spectacle than bring depravity in your face. Characters are running themselves into the ground at an astonishing speed ... in a way you find hard to understand.

Among all this repugnant mess of kids destroying themselves for no apparent reason, you'll find yourself drowning in their struggle and you'll feel hooked on these lives like never before.

And by the end of it all, it's nothing but another love story. A staggeringly different one from all the other you have seen before. Something really new and that leaves you with an impact lingering in your mind for weeks.

Finally, about the art. Good lord. Some of the most gorgeous backgrounds ever made in anime story and a weird way to present the characters. First, you find it strange and unappealing. They chose to actually FILM the characters and then to transfer an manga like animated version of it into the series.

The mix between vibrant and realistic backgrounds and these cartoon like characters will more than probably put you of... for a couple of minutes!.

Thing is, the expressions captured by real live actors are unbeatable. The way that it helps the narrative is astonishing and it perfectly fits the need of real emotion on the characters once that we are talking about a story that will rip your guts inside out.

This was one of the greatest anime i ever saw.