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Reading Ibara no Ou was a big surprise for me. I had it sitting on my shelf for almost a year, and did not expect anything out of extraordinary from it. When I actually picked it up to read, the 6 volumes did not last 3 days.

The art style is very unique. The characters (specially the female ones) are beautiful and they are very likeable. They all have well crafted personalities and their personalities influence the events and pacing of the story.

But where Ibara no Ou shines is with its story telling. Reading the manga was a thrilling experience. The story is full of plot ... twists and almost every chapter will give you a "that was almost the end" scene, and you will find yourself cheering for the characters (or wishing them to die already, depending on the character...).

The only reason preventing me from giving a 10 to this manga is the end of the story, specially the last volume. It was cramped it A LOT of information, and you will probably need to read 2 or 3 times to understand everything. It feels like the author didn't get enough pages and rushed the end. Also, the ending of the story itself was very open-ended. What happened to some characters at the end will be up to your imagination.

Overall, reading this manga is worth it and I fully recommend it.

I picked this one up because it's by the same author of Rurouni Kenshin (and well, because I found it for half of the price).

I expected something at least close to what Rurouni Kenshin was, but instead I found out another typical shounen adventure, where the main character is dragged into a world of fantasy and has to fight powerful enemies with incredible powers (in this case, in an alchemy-themed world).

This is what I would call a well developed story with an uninteresting premise. Regarding the story itself, in my opinion Watsuki hasn't failed us. It progressed well and ended beautifully.

I would recommend this ... manga to: people looking for a regular shounen manga, trying to unwind from complex or deep plots. Go for it without expecting anything out of this world.

I wouldn't recommend this manga to: people who want to read thrilling and exciting stories, not just wanting to kill some free time with comics.