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Nov 17, 2021
Hinamatsuri is a fun, lighthearted, comedy manga. The premise itself is simple: a yakuza boss is living his life, when all of a sudden Nina, a young girl appears in his home. Turns out she is an insanely strong esper, and the two of them get into various hijinks as the story goes on.
What makes this manga special, however, is that though Nina has some crazy powers, they don’t define her character at all. Nina is a lazy, good for nothing, middle school girl who just wants to nap and play video games. Her powers aren’t really that important, as this manga is almost
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purely character focused.
Most of the comedy in this manga comes from the well written characters bouncing their personalities off of one another, creating hilarious misunderstandings and situations. Though the power is ever present throughout, it only acts as a supplement to the characters, not as a replacement for personality. This cements the manga as a slice of life, as most of the time powers have no impact on the world around them.
There is a good amount of plot here, but it never tries to get serious and overdramatic. The characters sometimes forget that there is a story at all, and sometimes purposely try to distance themselves from it, adding to the overall hilarity and light tone.
Though the art isn’t the greatest, it has a lot of character, and contributes to the overall feel of the manga perfectly.
If you need a breathe of fresh air, give this manga a read, it’ll be sure to leave a grin on your face.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 16, 2021
Tonikaku Kawaii is just plain and simple cute. The story is about two kids who get married, and what their married life is like. It follows a lot of similar tropes as most rom-coms, where he is bubbly and energetic and she is cold and unemotional, but the situations turn out very differently for one reason: they are already married. The manga loves to play off this, as a married couple is obviously going to have different ways of interacting then the typical romance manga couple.
The author spends most of his time making the characters basic interactions as cute as possible, and most of
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the manga is just their day to day lives. This sounds boring but it’s cute enough that you come to love just watching the two of them.
There is more to this story than just the characters living their lives, there is some sort of deep plot that’s been hinted at since the beginning. The manga is only just now starting to expand on it, meaning that it’s too early to tell what direction the author is going to take it. It could either stifle the main story or deepen it, it’s simply too soon to tell.
The comedy in the manga is decent. There are a lot of anime, movies, and video game references throughout. The comedy usually comes with the side characters, who are few in number but can provide a breath of fresh air to the plot. They open up more interactions between our main characters, which helps contribute to the cuteness of their lives without making it repetitive.
Overall, this manga presents a cute life of a married couple, while providing enough side information and hints at a deeper plot to keep you coming back for more. Read up if you need a smile in your life
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 16, 2021
All Rounder Meguru does a great job at what it sets out to do: make a realistic mma (shooto) series. The main character is a high school students who lives a normal life, who happens to practice mma after school. He isn’t some martial arts genius, he isn’t born with insane punching power, and he doesn’t have an in-humane work ethic.. Hell he doesn’t even have a speciality. He lacks most martial arts manga tropes that would serve to disconnect him from reality. This allows us as the audience dive deep into his journey.
All Rounder Meguru does not have a very distinct art
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style, and sometimes characters are hard to tell apart. The manga refuses to include anything that would suspend disbelief, like fancy hairstyles or exaggerated personalities. This can be seen both as a strength and a detriment, as it pushes you more into the view of realism, but also lacks the staying power in your mind.
Where the art style does shine is in the fights. The author clearly has a strong understanding of real life mma, as the characters always use realistic and grounded movements and techniques, which makes the fights flow better between panels. There were very few times where I got confused with how someone ended up in a certain position, and when that did happen it was usually on purpose to demonstrate a high level (yet real) transition or technique.
Also, thanks to the grounded style of the manga, the exciting moments don’t have to be the characters doing some secret clan explosive technique. Whether it’s a well timed sweep, a beautiful takedown, or a great striking sequence, the moments that would make a viewer excited in a real life mma match carry over into the manga, meaning that there is very little required suspension of disbelief. This also rewards us as readers, after watching the main character work hard, seeing the things he did in practice used in the ring.
The characters in this manga also go through very real struggles, Meguru, our protagonist, has no idea what his goal really is. He doesn’t have a typical martial arts manga “dream to become the strongest,” as in the real world that dream just isn’t really practical. They play with a more typical manga protagonist with Takashi (the secondary protagonist), giving him a tragic backstory and making him fall into other tropes, but at every turn he is beaten down by real life into becoming more of a normal, realistic person.
What this manga does well, it does really well. It gives you an insight to what a high schooler who has a hobby’s life is like, as he struggles his way through the mma world while trying to understand himself. The character design leaves a bit to be asked for, and most characters aren’t very memorable, but overall it is a enjoyable experience, especially if you love martial arts.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 16, 2021
Grand Blue is an absolute masterpiece.
Grand Blue is a drinki- I mean diving manga, a fact that the manga itself is constantly trying to convince you to no avail. In all seriousness, the premise behind diving is of little overall importance, other than giving an excuse for there the girls to wear swimsuits as often as possible. Though the premise itself is interchangeable, the characters are not. They are the heart and soul of this manga.
You have the main character who seems like a classic slice of life protagonist, and at the very beginning (I mean the first 5 pages tops) fills the
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role of the straight man. Very shortly after he becomes a good for nothing entity of chaos; who very rarely (and I mean very rarely) has a deep thought. Even as we cringe through his actions, we still love him all the same. This relationship is bounced off of the supporting cast who also have their own strong personalities that make ridiculous scenarios occur which had me consistently dying laughing.
The characterization would only be half as effective if not backed up with the masterful art style. The art will have characters looking beautiful, as if they were from a slice of life romance manga, to literal titans from Attack on Titan in one panel. These sudden shifts make the characters so much more expressive and memorable, as well as make the punchlines hit harder.
Though the story itself is merely a vessel for the characters, it manages to send a strong message about getting out and trying new things, opening up yourself to new experiences and having fun. This is where the premise of diving comes in, as though I called it interchangeable previously, it is a great metaphor for how the manga talks about stepping into a new world and making new experiences, which in this case is the Deep Blue Sea. Because of this, you will leave this manga feeling refreshed and in a good mood; meaning you can’t help but smile when thinking of the masterpiece that is “Grand Blue”
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 16, 2021
At it’s heart, this manga is another harem manga; However, it does a great job of subverting the standard issues that have given harem mangas a bad rep. Though all the girls are literally identical siblings, they each are given there own personalities, which gives each one their own presence in the story. These personalities both directly impact the narrative moving forward, as well as are impacted by events, making them each strong, memorable characters. The author also did a good job at balancing the time and attention given, allowing different readers to have different preferences and favorites among the girls. Personally I found myself
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conflicted as the story went on, as I slowly came to like each girl I wanted them each to win for their own reasons, a sign of good characterization.
This manga’s story isn’t complicated by any means. There is a set of quintuplets who cannot pass exams, and to remedy this their father hires the top student at their school, our main character. The author did a good job at using this premise to build the romantic relationships between the main characters and each girl, making how they fall in love with him feel natural. Thanks to the girls each being so like-able (or hate-able, if there is a particular girl you want to win the most) the ending is kept ambiguous, and kept me page turning as I never was sure who would win in the end.
All this manga needed to become an all time great in its genre would be the strong ending, which is where the author failed to deliver. The final arc itself is confusing and mind numbingly slow, as we wait for the main character to make his choice. Now, I have no issue with who the main character chose, rather the problem lies with the way she was chosen. By this I mean we really have no idea why he chose her, as it was never explained nor developed at all, leaving us wholly unsatisfied and left feeling robbed of our time. It is a shame, as up till the last arc you can tell the author put in a lot of love and care into developing this story, but he fails to finish it in a meaningful way, leaving the story feeling hollow and unfinished.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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