- Last OnlineFeb 10, 2024 5:44 AM
- JoinedApr 10, 2015
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Dec 31, 2018
Kengan Ashura is one of those ‘fight scenes’ manga.
I’ve never used that phrase before but it popped into my mind when I was 80-something chapter into the manga and I thought it fit pretty appropriately.
What makes me think this phrase is that Kengan Ashura is basically 95% fight scenes. The story feels tacked on and just serves as a flimsy excuse for why the fights are happening. Plot/character development – what little there is – are often forced and contrived because they happen seemingly on the fly. Even major plot points sometime seemingly come out of nowhere.
The manga basically resembles ‘Baki’ (seems like a common
...
comparison), except with much better art. If you like Baki or manga with endless fight scenes, then Kengan will be a very enjoyable read to you. For me, it dampened a lot of the enjoyment.
Kengan suffered from much the same problems as Baki did and often to a worse degree. I enjoy fight scenes too but a great deal of the enjoyment stems from external factors. There must be a decent story to get you emotionally immersed and there should be suspense about how the fight will turn out and who will win. Kengan has neither of these.
It’s very difficult to get immersed in the story precisely because of the problem of the story being so thin. Even if one were to ignore the premise – corporations hiring fighters to fight for money and power – there’s the issue that much of the manga doesn’t even focus on the primary protagonists or even antagonists.
The manga has a massive cast and a huge portion is dedicated to showing long, drawn out, multi-chapter fights between these people…most of which you can’t remember anyway as most don’t have any real distinguishing features. They can all (including the main character) be described the same way: big, heavily muscled, highly competitive, and extremely strong. I suspect the author knows this too as he endlessly reintroduces the characters and reminds readers of what makes them special.
You can’t even look at them and try to guess their fighting style as it’s completely random. You could see a sleek, highly toned guy fighting a gigantic ‘powerlifter’ looking person and you might assume the former would have a faster agile fighting style while the latter would have a hard hitting tank-like style. Then the fight starts and, in reality, the sleek guy is the tank taking all hits without problem and the giant person is flying around like a ballet dancer. All the while, both would be pulling out techniques/capabilities that you never seen them use or would possibly guess they have.
The above would be why there’s no suspense with fights. When all the fighters are so similar and fights are so completely random, how could you have suspense? That comes with predictability. At some point, you must think ‘I don’t think that guy could beat the other person’ or ‘that guy is way too strong’ and be able to logically theorize why.
There are such cases in the manga where one person is overwhelmingly stronger than the other and the fight becomes a curbstomp, but it’s hard to guess because you can’t see it from their appearance, previously shown feats, or even hype…because, again, everyone in the manga is presented similarly. All of the fighters will look strong, show great feats, and be relentlessly hyped by side characters.
Ultimately, I ended up getting tired of the manga and dropped it. However, it isn’t completely without merit.
As I pointed out, if you like Baki or any manga with an extreme focus on fight scenes, you probably will enjoy Kengan Ashura. Furthermore, although I didn’t really enjoy the fights, I did think the manga did humor fairly well.
Overall, though, it just isn’t for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Sep 1, 2018
Gekiryuuchi is an interesting manga. It’s a short 25 chapter action manga wherein a weak character grows up to be strong with the help of someone who trains him.
This is the kind of concept typically used by larger manga, but this one does it in only 25 chapters and, boy, does it do it really well! I have nearly nothing but compliments for this manga. So much so that I’ll have to review by building up from the weakest compliment I have to the strongest.
First, the weakest compliment is the great art. It is attractive and, more importantly, it makes fight scenes clear and easy
...
to understand. This is not something action manga always gets right, so it’s good the author does it here.
Second, the next compliment I can give is that the fight scenes incline towards the realistic sides. Fighters in this manga fight by using tactics, good form, and actual real skills. In the beginning, the MC succeeds due to aggression, ability to read moves, and because his opponents are utterly untrained.
It uses this realism to great effect. There’s no easy wins without getting a single scratch. The MC would often get bloody and everyone gets injured. Every fight is a street fight too. Weapons and dirty tactics are used. The MC would maim guys by biting then smashing their face in with a bottle. That aggression is also real. In one case, a guy tries to mug him and he immediately responds with a punch. He didn’t even bother to try to de-escalate and sometimes doesn’t even say a word.
Can you believe this guy originally tried to kill himself after being bullied too much?
Lastly, perhaps the biggest compliment I can give this manga is the pacing. The pacing is the absolute best I have ever seen for an action manga.
We learn about the MC and his goals, then we see his progression (which is logical) in a straightforward manner. His training is also simple and straight forward and goes at a steady pace.
The author keeps the story straight and simple with only a few minor subplots (that are all quickly resolved) and permanent characters. This keeps the plotline free of clutter and distraction and the author doesn’t bother with unnecessary dramatic backstories. For once, there’s also no love interest to get in the way.
It seems like such a silly compliment, especially one to call the ‘biggest’, but it’s such a rare thing in manga, especially action manga. Action manga would often grow to 80+ chapters (if not double, triple that). From beginning to end, the story would progress up and down, back and forth. There would be numerous subplots and some of those will take 30+ chapters to resolve.
Nothing is ever simple either. The MC trains through the most Rube Goldberesque methods to learn the simplest thing. There would be two dozen characters and readers have to learn the dramatic backstories of every single one of them. There will be a love interest if not two or three which will then become an arc/subplot of its own at some point.
All this and so much more. The things above can make a dramatic and complex manga; plus, they are also needed to keep the plot going. However, the problem is that it destroys pacing and drags the main plot down. Sometimes, I just want to see a simple dispute get resolved in a single chapter instead of 10+.
Gekiryuuchi avoids all this and, with skill, the author keeps the pacing and progression and story tight. Everything moves forward logically, quickly, and simply. The suspension and action is built up with no downturn at any point. This is why I considering the pacing to be this manga’s biggest compliment.
Ultimately, if there is any flaw in this manga, it is that I didn’t think the ending was too great, but considering the journey there is so fantastic, I’m willing to forgive it. I’d definitely give this manga my recommendation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Sep 1, 2018
Veritas is an action manhwa that contains a lot of common themes. That isn’t what makes it great. What makes it great at the themes it subverts. Where this manhwa shines are the refreshing protagonist and the good fight scenes.
What makes the protagonist, Ma Gangryong, refreshing? He’s a common action comic hero – dense, always looking to fight the strong, been taught by a powerful master, etc. However, the author built on this strong point – he’s basically a violent punk that just loves fighting.
No, really that’s him to a ‘tee’. He doesn’t care about school, doesn’t have any love interests, and the only reason
...
he has friends at all is because they forced themselves on him. What does he preach, i.e. ‘his path of truth’ in shounen terms? Nothing. He cares about nothing except getting stronger. When confronted by people who tell him that they fight to protect their families, he mentions – for the first time – that he has a little sister…then promptly says he still never thought about fighting to protect anyone.
See? Refreshing. Just a violent punk who happens to be the protagonist.
Thanks primarily to him, we get plenty of great action scenes.
Unfortunately, the manga could use a lot of improvements elsewhere. Aside from the refreshing protagonist, it is cliché and dull in a lot of other ways.
The main setting of this manhwa is an exclusive school designed to nurture martial artists. Here, fighters can learn skills and challenge each other. This school is ruled by an all powerful ‘Student Council’ (of course…) who is led by the rich, intelligent, and powerful president. Sounds familiar, huh?
Additionally, the presidential election is coming up and there is a conspiracy to overthrow the leader, and this is the primary plot of Veritas. From here, you get a lot of the Batman gambits, underhanded plotting by crafty guys, and so on.
You see the same thing in every action manga which involves school in any way, shape, or form.
Aside from the bland plot, there is a problem wherein Veritas lacks decent antagonists. Unfortunately, the author has a love of basically two types of villains: The bloodthirsty lunatics (who always laugh with wide teeth) and the cold, quiet calculating types. There’s a few people in-between, but they’re rare and they get less prominence.
So in short, Veritas is great with the protagonist and action scenes, but has a generally bland story and antagonists. Overall, I’d still recommend a read if you’re into action with great art style.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jun 4, 2017
I have heard a great deal about Shamo prior to reading it and it left me with the impression that it’s supposed to be one of the most unique manga around. Furthermore, the synopsis certainly did much to cement that impression.
Well, Shamo is a great and unique manga, but readers may find it is also very familiar.
To begin, the synopsis is misleading. Everything it says does happen, but it gives the impression that what it says is the primary focus of the manga when I would easily argue that it is a fairly unimportant detail that only serves as an explanatory backstory. Seems crazy to
...
call parricide an unimportant detail, but aside from serving as a MacGuffin for why the MC is so hated, it doesn’t really do much else in the story. Honestly, it seems to me the MC pretty much forgets it altogether at times.
No, instead, if I were to rewrite the synopsis, I would write out one describing a pretty standard martial arts manga – you know, the whole weak guy gets trained by a martial arts master, trains hard, and gradually faces challenges improving along the way. However, there would be one difference and it is basically the whole theme of the manga: the POV of view is from that of the villain.
Imagine every martial arts manga you’ve ever read. Know that villain the good guy MC typically faces who fights dirty, mistreats women, bullies everyone, and basically act like an all-around asshole? Well, he is the MC in Shamo.
And it is a unique and interesting premise. It basically explains how the martial arts villain becomes the way he is, how he succeeds, what he generally does, and etc. In a lot of cases, he basically does the same things as a good guy MC, except, obviously, there’s a lot more darkness and Shamo really revel in that aspect. The MC, Narushima Ryo, is basically a gangster and his life reflects that.
Ignoring the whole martial arts journey – which is common and standard – and the fact that Narushima is essentially your classic villain, what makes Shamo such a great read? I think the strongest compliment I can give it is the sobering and realistic portrayal of a common street thug. This is something most manga does very poorly.
It’s not the fault of most manga. Most of them focus around the good guy MC and can’t give much time to the side characters, thus they can’t really do a portrayal justice. Instead, they eschew subtlety in exchange for blazon portrayals, e.g. the street thugs you see seem to spend all their time robbing others, molesting random women, committing crimes, and all while bellowing evil laughter.
Shamo is, again, all about the villain so the author has a rare opportunity to do the portrayal justice and he does it magnificently. Narushima is a street thug and it shows. His life is sometimes glamorous, but, in most cases, it’s ugly. He commits crimes easily, but, in fact, he does things legitimately most of the time. He is surrounded by shady people who hates him and gladly takes advantage of him, but he can’t do much about it because normal society despise him so he has to survive by being tough.
When he needs money, he turns to doing ugly things. Most often that involves getting into a life-threatening fight, but he survives by backhanded means every step of the way. He knows he is not honorable or fair and he doesn’t give a damn. He intends to live.
He has only a few friends and most of them are outcasts like him. Being around them tends to bring him harm and, likewise, his presence causes them harm too. Any normal people or ‘good guys’ who comes into contact with him or his crew quickly comes to regret it and, in fact, a great deal of the manga has readers cheering for his defeat because the people he fights and cheats against are often such great guys unlike him.
So in short, Narushima’s life sucks because he sucks and everybody hates him knowing how much he sucks. The manga contains little romanticism and things like destiny/fate/good karma/redemption are laughed at. From beginning to end, the mang depicts an utterly sobering life in Narushima Ryo and all those around him.
All in all, the manga is a fantastic read for that reason alone. The art is pretty good and it can get highly suspenseful at times, but all in all, the character exploration of Narushima Ryo is the primary motivator. The author has created a genuinely amazing manga and it should be read for that purpose alone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 19, 2016
I came upon this while searching for something 'fun and easy' to read to pass the time. I saw the synopsis looked interesting and it was only four chapters long, so I gave it a go. I was amazed by how much I liked this manga and, by the end, I genuinely wished it was much longer.
On the surface, it seems like your pretty typical fare. Two good looking girls from opposite sides slowly form a relationship and eventually things escalate to a higher level. This basic descriptions applies to pretty much 90% of yuri manga out there. What separates Mars no Kiss from most
...
of them is that the MC, Yukari, is a surprisingly complex character.
Most manga of this type have pretty one dimensional characters. Their personality is one of the manga archetypes (e.g. tsundere, hot blooded idiot, yamato nadeshiko, etc), they are kind and get along well with classmates (which is generally how they meet their love interest), and their character undergoes little to no development. Yukari, however, does not fit any of that. She is, by all accounts, a pretty normal girl with her own set of troubles. She is also a pretty normal student and is not bullied or popular. In other words, Yukari is a pretty normal person...something which is pretty uncommon in manga and, paradoxically, makes her a bit unique.
By that's not all that makes her special. When we meet her, we are shown that she has trouble with an overbearing mother and the result is that she has become strongly inclined to rebel in classic ways (older boyfriend, being sexually promiscuous, body accessories which her parents dislike, etc). However, as we go along, we learn that both her overbearing mother and her own behavior has resulted in an acute sensitivity to being self-consciousness and, despite her brazen confidence at times, we do learn that she is actually prone to low self-confidence at times.
As the chapters passes, we learn her thoughts/feelings on things and we see her develop in response to new realizations. Everything happens in a surprising smooth and notable way. Eventually, she blooms into what is arguable her 'true self' and the moment is rather beautiful.
I went on a lot about Yukari. The other MC, Miki, is also a good character and works well as a supporting role. However, I do think Yukari carries this manga and I'm very impressed with how the author designed her and the story so well in such a small amount of chapters.
Anyway, I went on a lot about the story, but there's really much more to it than what I said. Considering it's so short (unfortunately), it would be a shame for anyone to miss this. I definitely recommend reading this!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 6, 2016
I tried really hard to Blood and Steel.
This is my second attempt to do so. The first had me dropped it at chapter 26 and now I managed to get as far as 60 (and I had skipped two chapters) which was near the latest chapters, but I simply couldn’t like it.
Still, let me talk about the best aspect of this manhua first. The best aspect of Blood and Steel (B&S) is undoubtedly the action.
The action aspect is one I actually find surprising. B&S has a pretty basic story of revenge and a Wuxia theme wherein people are constantly being hyped, have weapons with names,
...
shout out the names of their attacks, etc. Often, fights would end up getting dragged out and being overly long. It would have been fine for major fights, but it is often the case that EVERY single fight would go like this. B&S manages to avoid this for the most part.
Most of its fights are brisk thus allowing for much more interesting fights. There are times when it begins to drag out, especially when a lot of famous people come around and they must all have their special scenes, but luckily, it seems to be rare. So for the most part, action is done well by the manhua.
Now then, what is the worst aspect of Blood and Steel? No doubt the characters.
Characters I dislike are probably among the top reasons I stop reading and disliking the MC increases that exponentially. In the case of B&S, I dislike the MC and a whole bunch of other characters. Primarily because they act in ways I find ridiculous.
The whole manhua is about how this martial arts faction rose up and is now going around slaughtering/ending other factions. They are supposedly acting ‘unrighteously’ and the introduction of the story certainly them in that light. Thus the MC – Yang Heng – is on this journey for revenge for the murder of nearly his entire community. I understood and supported that.
What I understood less is when the hero (and other people too) repeatedly allow members of this evil faction to escape from fights because it wasn’t started on ‘fair footing’ (that is they were not equally ready to fight). It frustrated me and, ultimately, caused me to gradually dislike the characters.
After the end of another major battle where everyone was let go again and even given a massive reprieve, I decided to stop reading.
Truth is that I probably should have expected this. Wuxia theme manhua acts very much like this and I should have come to realize that the characters would inevitably do the same. Nonetheless, I simply couldn’t come to like it or overlook it as a character flaw.
If you’re a fan of the battle shounen genre or simply don’t mind the things I describe above, I think Blood and Steel would be an excellent manhua to read, but for me, I just couldn’t bring myself to like it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 4, 2016
Yuureitou is a manga that’s hard to find fault with.
The moment you start reading, you’d notice the art is off the charts. Unbelievably good looking. Furthermore, the author uses it very well to create atmospheric scenes.
Secondly, the writing is excellent. The premise is interesting and the plot around the premise works well. There are many interesting characters that are likely to invoke a strong emotional response on your part and they do grow causing you to change your opinions. Almost all of them have personalities and personality quirks which are almost impossible to find in mainstream manga like this and I was very impressed to
...
find them here.
So we have a manga with strong art, story, and characters…isn’t that basically everything that makes a manga? Well, there are much more nuances than that, but it doesn’t make a difference because Yuureitou often gets those too.
Long manga (of which Yuureitou can be counted among) often have a problem of ‘wandering plots’ in which the main plot lose focus in favor of numerous subplots that merely moves the story along in no particular direct. Yuureitou suffers from this slightly, but manages to overcome it for the most part by keeping a fluidly changing story. That is instead of keep a single goal/point that remains the same the entirety of the story, the author changes the goal/point repeatedly.
That’s uncommon, but a big positive. Manga has a habit of keep a single narrow focus through the entire story, but by sidestepping this, Yuureitou adds realism and works to keep the story interesting without making it seem like it’s losing focus.
Even when the manga goes far out of its comfort zone, it does so extraordinarily well. Yuureitou is a very drama heavy manga veering into horror at times. At one point, the manga tries its hand at comedy for several chapters and you’d think it would be bad at it considering everything else…except it was hilarious. I found myself laughing repeatedly. That blew me away.
If there is any negative in this manga, it’s that the author sometimes likes to jump ahead in story a bit too much without smoothly transitioning making things seem a bit abrupt. One quickly catches on or is able to form an educated guess, but that shouldn’t be necessary.
Still, in the face of such overwhelming positives, a small thing like that can easily be ignored. Yuureitou is, for the most part, one of the most perfect manga I can think of. Complex story, excellent art, amazing characters, and everything is tied together well.
Overall, I highly recommend this manga and it would be an enormous shame for anyone to miss it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Oct 2, 2016
J no Subete is a rather interesting manga.
It’s a rather morose tale about a person named ‘J’ – yes, that’s the whole name – who supposedly looks like Marilyn Monroe and, apparently, likes to spend time singing dressing up as a woman. The manga presents his life in a rather matter-of-fact way; that is, there’s no great point or goal. You’re really just learning about the times and struggle of J.
In that aspect, the manga does well. Initially, J comes off as this sort of ‘doll’ that seem to live mostly for attention without any real thoughts. Roughly ¼ through the manga, though, things changes
...
and we slowly delve into his personality and thoughts. I speak on this because this, to me, is probably the strongest point of the manga.
J feels like a real person at times. At points, you think you begin to understand him and how he works, then he does something incomprehensible. However, it’s the kind of ‘incomprehensible’ that seems like you’re getting a look under the surface of what you normally see when you look at him. That is that even though J really does come off as a complex character on the surface, there’s still an underlayer that’s still yet more of the ‘real J’.
And that, in particular, is why I believe character development is the strongest point of the manga. The author succeeds in making J look human because real people are genuinely that complex. Furthermore, although I specifically spoke of J, the author really paid much attention to nearly everyone in the manga. All the characters (save for the very side ones) feel complex.
In regards to the other aspects, I also compliment the pacing. It’s a relatively short manga but, even then, the pacing is brisk but not abrupt. You’re experiencing things at a good pace and it helps the story pick up and remaining interesting.
Are there any flaws? Arguable. Personally, I found some of the scenes in this manga to be very ‘over the top’ breaking the immersion. This next complaint is also a classic and contentious one – the ending. That is, I thought the ending didn’t fit and flow well with the rest of the manga and, actually, the chapters leading up to it were a bit disappointing too.
Still, those two could easily be ignored in favor of an otherwise good read. On the whole, I think J no Subete is a pretty good manga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Sep 30, 2016
I really did not like this manga.
The first and foremost problem is that it’s difficult to read due to it seemingly being very disjointed. It jumps from scene to scene and explanation to explanation with little to no smooth transition making everything seem very abrupt.
The same reading difficulty actually applies to much of the manga content itself. This manga does a piss-poor job of explaining the plot and circumstances. It does an even worse job with character development. Most of the time, it seem like the author is rushing through the manga at break-neck pace and decided to ignore explanation of details for a clearer
...
picture in favor of moving the plot along.
That is actually an uncommon experience for me. In most cases, the issue is that the plot drags and the manga would spend inordinate amount of time going over the same situation/information until it’s basically cemented into readers’ head. Madoka does basically the exact opposite.
Reading other reviews of this, it seems the most common praise I hear for it is that it’s much darker than typical magical girl faire. This is true and it allows for a more unique read…but honestly, it wasn’t really that special. Allowing character deaths, blood, and sorrow in a traditionally upbeat genre is a nice touch, but without a well presented story, it’ll just be a bad story with a nice touch.
I had originally planned to watch the anime afterwards as Madoka appears to be one of the few cases where the manga is an adaptation of the anime rather than the other way around, but I’ve decided to skip it now. Whatever popularity Madoka appears to enjoy, it obviously doesn’t fit my taste.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
May 12, 2016
I’m a sucker for emotional farewells, revenge stories, and mystery solving. Is it any wonder then that I like Seizon-Life? It hits all the points.
Takeda is a man who succeeded greatly at his career, but he lost just about everything else. He lost his daughter over a decade ago, he then lost his wife to a disease, and now he himself seems on the verge of losing his own life to cancer in six months. He admits, though, that even before he lost those things, he didn’t really care for them. All he ever cared for was his job.
Just when he was about to give
...
up and throw even his life away, he receives news that his daughter’s corpse had been found and that the statue of limitations on her murder will expire in six months. Believing that this is a heavenly signal from his daughter, he decides to go look for her murderer when even the police had given up. In the process, he might learn more than just about the murder.
Seizon-Life’s strongest point is that it’s an exciting read made all the stronger by its short length – meaning it doesn’t drag on and the progress moves at a steady pace which easily keeps readers’ interest.
It does require a significant suspension of disbelief, especially when you consider that the crime was committed 14 years ago yet the primary method Takeda used to search is to ask people for information from their memories.
Nonetheless, the story’s mystery aspect helps to keep you interest and Takeda does come to be endearing and one sympathizes with him. Thanks to that, an already short but exciting story becomes that much more short and exciting because I found that, by the end, I didn't really wanted it to end just yet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
