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Ayashimon is the current manga being made by Yuji Kaku, a former assistant of the renowned Tatsuki Fujimoto (of CSM fame) and also the author of Jigokuraku : Hells Paradise. And while I do believe in Yuuji Kaku's abilities as a competent author of the current age of shounen jump, I must observe that Ayashimon has yet to show such promise.

Story : 7
- Currently the flavour of the story is mild. Its a mix of Yakuza-supernatural which is a very interesting setting to follow and it serves of one of the strong suits of the story, with some memorable sections of art giving life to ... the setting. However, the praise ends there. Currently 9 chapters deep, the story is going through some basic motions and setting up some ground rules while introducing the players of the game. I do not find any of this entertaining, if anything its mildly amusing and somewhat forgettable. It lacks the raw power given to readers by his previous work, Hells Paradise (or HP). And while I do recognize that Yuji Kaku is very likely taking his time to establish the groundwork for his (hopefully) long run is SJM, one thing that feels tacky is that the current story as we know it even exists in the first place because of a miraculous stroke of luck (read chapter 1 you'll see what I mean).The story's atmosphere is also not as strong or prevalent as it was in HP, it feels somewhat confused. Besides that the pacing of the current nine chapters are fairly quick which is somewhat off-putting given how things are handled. Its quick enough to notice but not slow enough to predict what's going to happen in the future, which should be considered a strength but personally feels more jarring. I do hope at some point that the story picks up for real and Yuji delivers a story playing to his strengths.


Art : 9
- The art is superb, and very distinct; as expected from Yuji Kaku given how striking his art was in HP. He's got an excellent set of designs in Urara, in his monsters (or ayashimon) and in his environments (which feel as good as they do purely because of his art style). He has some excellent shots present throughout his chapters and doesn't shy away from some well done action (though they are succinct) which are also popping with style. Even the weakest link in his chain, Mauro, has a passable design that would've been a negative in a different art style. If nothing else, this Manga is loaded with eye-candy and is deserving of attention just for that. Its also worth remarking some of the angles Yuji uses, they lend the scenes some deserving weight. Also lacks glaring fanservice (but isn't entirely absent).

Character : 7
- On the same wavelength as the story. But more so noticeable because of the main-main character, Mauro. Lets break it down. As of 9 chapters, we have been given slivers of character stories and those don't give us nearly enough to know the characters, which is honestly why I feel this category is deserving of a 7 and not 6. There's promise of better characterization within future chapters. Another reason for a 7 rating is Urara's character. Personally I am not a fan of Tsundere or Bratty types in stories because of their raw ability to make little sense and still be a bitch about it, but Urara has been a pleasant surprise in that she has been the sole voice of reason between the main duo. She expresses more than a few faucets of character and those are worthy of appreciation. Speaking on the supporting cast, they too have some positive traits in that they make enough sense within the story. No one is there just for shits and giggles. Then we come to Mauro, who is personally my biggest negative of the story. Guy can be surmised in in four words : Big. dumb and brutish. And I mean this very literally, seeing as his motivation, strength and level of intelligence are established in chapter 1. Arguably there isn't much issue with this, but Yuji has yet to find a way to differentiate Mauro from the others who use his Archetype and do it better. In short Mauro is simply dumb and loves to throw down, and we've seen enough of this ; and he hasn't been given his own distinctions. He can be redeemed however, by giving him the same edge of sincerity that was offered to Denji (and if chapter 9 was any indication, we'll hopefully receive it soon). Because of the existence of Gabimaru, the protagonist of HP, we know that Yuji Kaku is very capable of writing an intelligent MC, or at least one who isn't as dumb as a pile of bricks, so it wouldn't be a stretch to place faith in Yuji Kaku's ability to craft a suitable MC.

Enjoyment : 7
- Its mildly enjoyable, for the reasons stated above. Its serious but not quite. Fun but not quite a popcorn read. It treads an odd middle line which places the series in an odd position. While I am interested in seeing where the series goes, as of right now its a solid 7 in terms of enjoyability. Good but not great.

Overall : 7
- A solid 7 all across the board, recommendable for both Vets of the anime/manga medium and newcomers on account of its storytelling and lack of fanservice. If you've got the time of day, spending it on Ayashimon isn't something you'd regret, or so I hope.

Dr. Stone is , for simplicity's sake, is an anime about a mad scientist fella and his motley group of ragtags who try to race all the way up to the apex of human advancement. Oh, I forgot to mention everyone got turned to stone (And I mean everyone) and its 3700 odd years into the future.

Everything here is obviously my own opinion. Others may think to differ and thats fine. This is just me explaining what I like and dislike about this show (Mostly like though T_T).

*A fair warning : This anime will test your resilience with just how much your willing to put ... up with in terms of anime-ness and believeability.*

At the time of this writing it's been a while since I watched Dr.Stone, meaning it isn't totally fresh in my mind but I'm way past my honeymoon period as well, so I can look back and give an honest-to-god review of my experience.

Another something I'd like to add and something that I feel influenced my enjoyment of this show is *the mindset* with which I went into this anime. Around that time I took a break from watching anime since shit got hectic for me ; and when I came back I just didn't want to watch another anime that had a tense overarching plot, tense battles, tense drama etc etc. I just wanted to watch something that managed to create a sense of minutely looming danger, something that was relaxing to watch and something new and gripping as well. I weaseled around a bit and I remembered this show I had tried a while back (Dr.Stone) and I remembered it wasn't fast/tense/action-y enough, so I gave it up after Ep.3 ,which was, in hindsight, a good choice. Then me post-break thought of giving it another try and goddamn I was hooked this time around.

Story : 8/10
The Story of Dr.Stone , to me, was very captivating. Granted, it wasn't mindbogglingly genius and it didn't really offer much more than its novel concept (Which I might add, is very novel) but it handled itself well and It had me in its claws episode 5 onwards (That is to say, the prior episodes weren't bad, it just kicked into high gear there). I surmised the story above and thats pretty much all that can be said without moving into light spoiler territory. One thing I would like to point out about the story is how its paced. I feel, that its quite excellently paced. Senku (Protag) and his gang face some challenges (Being scientific in nature) and those challenges don't get resolved in just one or two episodes. In fact, one of the biggest challenges they faced took nearly most of the whole show to tackle successfully and I loved watching them go through it, through multiple episodes, it just feels real to me. Another commendable feat of the shows story is the sense of wonderment and discovery it gave me. There were a few moments where as I was watching it, and I was just plain awe-struck at the things they were accomplishing. It felt magnificent and wonderful to see Senku and the gang actually make and do these things all the way back in the stone age (Again, won't say anything specific cuz spoliers). At that time, it was exactly what I was looking for, and I can't emphasize just how amazing it felt to have found something to fit my mood just right. The Antagonist, Tsukasa, was also exactly what I wanted. He's a looming danger and cannot be ignored, but his involvement with the plot was minimal enough that I could enjoy the anime without feeling all that much tension. He was there far enough in the back of my skull to keep it juust right.
Another something to point out would be the humor in the show. Its a little crass and immature but I found it funny and a little endearing. Personally, I don't want that humor to go anywhere in the upcoming s2.

Art : 7/10
The Art In Dr.Stone is good, but its not an 8 or above is because I've seen better. A few commendable aspects would be the backgrounds , characters and their facial expressions. Call me trashy but some of the facial expressions in this show were just downright hilarious (EP.8 in particular). Admittedly in was more of a cheap laugh but I laughed genuinely and hard so thats that. The characters (Some of them at least) look fairly distinct and would be easily recognizable. A downside of the art though : The fight scenes aren't anything much to look at. Don't get me wrong, I've seen worse, but they aren't that impressive either. They just serve to move the plot and unlike with other amazing anime, I didn't come back to watch any of the fight scenes in Dr.Stone.

Sound : 7/10
Nothing much memorable about the sounds in this show. The OP and ED were good but nothing to write home about. There is a track they play in episodes (I think, not entirely sure) while Senku and the gang are doing scientific shit that sets the whole thing at ease. The VAs though. In that aspect, Dr.Stone is hella anime. There's a lot of laughing and shouting and generally very anime. It might downgrade the experience for some people and I can understand why, but it served to enhance the experience for me. Felt laidback and casual.

Characters : 9/10
Characters are quite nice and theres a large cast too. From Mad Scientist/Encyclopedia Senku to bully Magma. The stars of the shows are Senku and Asagiri for me. Even I'll admit, Senku is a bit of a ridiculous character since the dude is a walking talking literal encyclopedia who knows everything there is to know about anything and the dude is only 16. Its charming in its own stupid way and I loved every second of it. He's also a little comical in that he has a few mad scientist quirks and his 10 billion percent quirky catchphrase (or whatever you can call that) is quite comical. I also do appreciate him admitting to his physical weakness. Being so overpowered in the head, it'd be weird if he was physically OP too. And in comes his best friend meathead Taijuu. I love that idiot and his chemistry with Senku made me smile often times enough. A character I don't quite vibe with is Yuzuriha. I just don't know what she adds and while I don't hate her, can't say I like her either. There are other loveable additions but another that comes a little ways into the show is Asagiri Gen. Gonna try to keep it spoilerless as possible but anyways, Asagiri, I feel, would probably be most people in that situation. He's constantly flabbergasted and amazed by Senku's inventions. Seeing as he knows and remembers what the modern world was like, he is fascinated by Senku and I can't help but relate with him so damn hard on that level. Bottom Line : I feel Gen is the everyday man in the story and it wasn't long until he became a favorite of mine in the anime.

Enjoyment : 10/10
This show I binged straight up. Two days was all it took and I finished it. I enjoyed it thoroughly and was excited to hear that s2 was announced as well. A factor that definitely influenced my enjoyment of this show was my mindset I had as I went in. I detailed it above so I won't say much about it, but its definitely important to come into this show without expecting much action.

Can You Recommend it to friends/newcomers/fellow weebs? : Yes. You can recommend this show to anyone but only a certain type will enjoy it to its fullest, Action junkies especially won't enjoy it much. Lovers of deep stories with psychological tension might enjoy the series somewhat. Bottom line : Recommend it freely, just don't expect everyone to enjoy it.

Overall : 9/10
Amazing show thats amazing in its whole but restrained by its niche appeal. Not everyone ,I feel, will enjoy this show and thats fine. Those that do, will enjoy it plenty. I definitely recommend that you watch it for yourself (Three Episode rule) to find out whether you will enjoy it or not (try to bear up to ep. 5 if you can).