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It amazes me that to this point no one has ever written a review of this story on the MAL site. Well, I think it's better late than never.

Hidamari no Ki is the story of the friendship between samurai Manjiro Ibuya (a fictitious character) and doctor Ryoan Tezuka (later Ryosen Tezuka, and this is a historical figure, Osamu Tezuka's great-grandfather). Even though they have diametrically opposite occupations (samurai are occupied with killing, and doctors with saving lives) a great mutual respect and trust is slowly built between these two characters. They both learn from each other and themselves, changing their beliefs and learning things about ... the world. In the end, they are practically irrecognizable from the two men that started the story hating each other.

More than all, this manga is a lesson on how to craft a good historical manga. That is the main thing I have to say about it.

The first topic is on the practice of medicine, specially the intellectual feud between "Chinese medicine" and "Dutch medicine". The practicants of Dutch medicine, or "dutchies" as they were called by the members of the Bakufu, were seen badly and regarded as practicants of black magic. The japanese had a very retrograde view on science. Even though the Chinese Medicine was proven through science to be many times inefficient (and even sometimes harmful to the patient), people still held those practices because they were doing so for hundreds of years. When the dutchies tried to promote campaigns to vaccinate people, there was a rumour which said that it would turn people into cows. When you read it and remeber how some people nowadays react towards vaccines, you realize that times haven't changed much in the last 150 years.

The other historical topic has to do with the Meiji Restoration. The story starts in 1855 and go all the way to 1868, the year of the Restoration. At first it is not a main topic of the story, but then, with the appearance of historical figures Townsend Harris and Henry Heusken, the current state of the Shogunate and the necessity of change in Japan's intern and foreign politics starts to be discussed. It is all crafted very subtly in the beginning, but it soons takes shape in the manga.

The story mainly focuses on Manjiro and Ryoan, but there's a myriad of really interesting supporting characters, like Okon (a former prostitute who is quite fond of Ryoan), Koan Ogata (a historical figure, teacher of Dutch medicine), Tobei (he is quite hateful to be honest, but a very interesting character with a unique background story) and Taki Seisai (another hateful character, but a perfect example of the Shogunate's outdated worldview). If not for Hidamari no Ki's historical learnings, one can read it for the fictitious events as well.

Naruto was a manga that started with the potential to be one or even THE best shonen ever made. It had everything that it takes for a success: a vast quantity of well-made characters, an interesting setting (the shinobi world Kishimoto designed is awesome), interesting villains (for me Orochimaru is a copy of Voldemort, but it was still good) and a solid premise.

Even though the series is named after the main character, it is the supporting characters that really give life to "Naruto": Kakashi, Rock Lee, Gaara, Shikamaru, Hinata, Itachi, Minato, Tsunade, just to name a few. They are all interesting characters. Some of them ... even got their own "fan-clubs" during the serialization of "Naruto".

But at some point around volume 45~50, the story quality just started to decay greatly. I think Kishimoto didn't know exactly how to tie off the knots he himself created in the plot (similar to the way GRR Martin doesn't know how to wrap up A Song of Ice and Fire, but that's another story). The plot became too big, and apparently Kishimoto wasn't able to deal with it.

I still give it a 9, given the great quality of the first 2/3.

I started watching Naruto in 2006, when I was 11 years old, and I started reading the manga in 2009. "Naruto" was a part of my teenage years. Maybe that's why I still give it a good grade despite its unsatisfying ending.

Just to say: the Korean version of the movie is definitely better.

Old Boy is a manga that started with a great premise: a man was imprisoned for ten years by a mysterious person. He is then released and has to find out who did this to him and why.

It started really good. The ways he used to track the steps of the mysterious man were really innovative and cool. Nevertheless, while I was reading it, it seemed to me that the author started the story without an idea on how to end it, so he was just dragging the story ever further. It took 8 ... volumes to finish the manga, but it could've been done with half of it, or even less. That's why I gave a 4 to "Enjoyment": because at a certain point I wasn't able to bear reading it anymore. I couldn't wait for it to finish.

And the ending is terrible. The explanation for why everything happened is just terrible. That's why I'm positive that he didn't had the notion on the motifs of the "villain", and just made some crappy ending to wrap it up.

It had potential to be a great story, but in the end it was frustrating. Had he done the same way the Korean movie version, it would have been awesome.

This manga is one of the rare cases in which the adaptation is better than the original.

The Crater is not just one story, but a collection of 17 different stories (with the last one being called "The Crater") of supernatural mystery.
I've read in some articles that it was made during an experimental period in Tezuka's career. He was transitioning from his adventurous and chldish-focused stories (like Lost World, Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion etc) to write more mature content. So The Crater is an experimental work; he was trying new stuff and made a collection of short stories to see how it would go. I think this fact is the answer to my opinion on each chapter: some of them ... were pretty good; some others chapters, on the other hand, were so confusing that I just stared at the last page wondering what the heck was that.
If you enjoy "Twilight Zone" or something of the sort, you're definitely going to enjoy reading this manga.
The art is bad, but you have to keep in mind that it was drawn in the late 60s, so that was the stardard way to draw during those times.

Hadashi no Gen is just the most heart-breaking, sad, gritty and tragic story that I can think of. It is the kind of story that really changes you as a person. It makes you see the world differently.

Hadashi no Gen is the tragic story of Gen and his family, who suffered deeply the effect of the atomic bomb. The author lived in Hiroshima in 1945 and he was six years old, so this is not fiction. This story is not fruit of imagination nor speculation. It is a true narrative of the Hiroshima bombing and the tragedies it caused to hundreds of thousands of people. ... Hadashi no Gen is terror and despair, but it is also redemption and hope. This work is a must-read for everyone. Humans need to learn from their mistakes, and reading Hadashi no Gen is one way to do it.

Almost everything is outstanding in this manga: the story, the art and the quality of the characters. Because of the tragedy involving the story, some of the moments are really not enjoyable to read. But a while after you finish it you can enjoy the story, if you are able to accept the fate of some characters. In the end, one cannot turn his/her back to the truth. Although the names of most people were changed to the story, all of them were based on real people that lived with Nakazawa Keiji. The tragedies depicted really happened.

One can say Hadashi no Gen is an anti-war work, but it's actually more than that. It also criticizes the abusive Japanese society. This work also deglamorizes the traditional Japanese society, pointing out the injustices that existed during that time. Sometimes in Hadashi no Gen the real enemy was not the bomb or the Amrericans who dropped it, but the very Japanese people.

I still haven't read the entire story, but there's a reason for that. I was simply unable to find scans on the Internet (maybe I'm not good at finding things). The 10 volumes were published in my country (Brazil) but it was a limited edition. I was only able to read until Volume 6 (which was enough to make me love it). Very recently, I was able to purchase the remaining four volumes, and I intend to read them very soon.

It's been a while since I read this story (I believe it was four years ago, but I may be wrong), so I may forget some things. It is that way because just recently I have decided to make some reviews on MAL.

I intend to reread it, though, for this manga is simply astonishing.

Although people have already said it in the other reviews, Hi no Tori is composed of several different stories. To be precise, each volume presents us a different set with different stories. In some rare occasions, the same character appears in two different volumes, but it's not common. It is not uncommon ... though to see the same characters reborn hundreds of years later. Death and rebirth is a recurring point in Tezuka's work.

The story is just great. In some cases it is also a History class. Tezuka seemed to be pretty well-versed in the History of Japan and its surrounding regions. I don't remeber which volume (LOL), but one of them depicts with great accuracy the Japanese invasion of the Korean Peninsula during the Baekje reign. Tezuka also put in the stories a lot of philosophy, existentialism, the importance of nature, the preciousness of life, the meaning of life, and what it is to be human. You can feel that some of these moments are very personal: Tezuka really put his deep thoughts on Hi no Tori. Although having declared himself as agnostic, he had a great sense of spirituality.

The volumes go back and forth in time. It is worth of note that a final volume was intended to be written, but Tezuka died before concluding it. Thus Hi no Tori is an unfinished work. This undone volume is maybe one of the greatest losses in the history of manga. Tezuka left behind a synopsis for a story called "Earth", which takes place in the 1930's and it would be set in Shanghai, when Japan have defeated the Chinese forces in their war with China.

Also, don't expect the whole volumes to be all serious and stern. Tezuka puts a lot of jokes and anachronic puns during the most unexpected situations. The most heart-breaking tragedy can be easily succeeded by a funny scene. That's just the crazy way Tezuka writes. If you have already read something from him, you will not be surprised.

The characters are deep. Real deep. They have all the anguishes, regrets, guilts, feelings of compassion and contempt, moments of anger, love, narcisism, selfishness and redemption. To be put simply, they are truly human. Tezuka did a great work on them.

All in all, Hi no Tori is just one of the best manga I have ever read.

This is the first review I'm writing in this website so far, so please, don't judge my grammar.

One Piece is a part of the team of the successful shonens of the third millenium, amongst Naruto, Bleach and currently Fairy Tail and Toriko, now that Naruto is finished. Nevertheless, One Piece has something that stands out from your typical shonen manga, despite relying heavily on comedy, adventure and action, something that nearly every successful shonen does. So how does it stand out?

One Piece is not your regular shonen because of its themes and its worldbuilding. Despite the fact that it ... has A LOT of arcs and sagas (it has hundred and hundreds of chapters, with dozens of very different and unique places being visited), in the end it is all connected with the main themes of One Piece: the fight against injustice, the value of friendship and the quest for freedom. Yes, every arc is very different from one another; in most arcs, a new huge cast of characters is introduced. In most cases, a lot of lore is also put in, mainly from the island the crew is visiting. The cast of characters is immense and there are dozens of subplots going on simultaneously, but all of them are interconnected because they all have to do with these three themes that I named above. And the worldbuilding also deserve kudos for being able to compress all of One Piece's subplots into one massive and cohesive world.

But now talking about the story. Not too much, just a preamble. One Piece has Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Crew, as the main character. His main goal is to be King of Pirates, but not because he wants fame, riches, a country for himself or many slaves. He wants it simply because he sees it as the only way to obtain absolute freedom. He doesn't really care about things most people would. And he is completely honest; he always tells the truth, even when he lies (that is true, because he physically can't lie). Another thing that is nice to notice about Luffy is that, even though he clearly lacks intelligence in a number of areas, like politics, math or science, he is an absolute genius when it comes to emotional intelligence. That is why I think he is the perfect example of a true leader. He knows what he can do and cannot do, so he relies very much on his friends. And friendship is also one of the main motifs of the story. Luffy values his friendships more than anything in the world. In One Piece, hardly ever a fight is made to achieve power, to "save the world" or for the fun of it; Luffy usually fights because the villain made someone from his crew suffer, or simply because he wants to help his friends. He would even declare war on the entire world if he needs to do it to save a member of his crew.

I would also want to talk about the art. This is quite a contentious subject, for I know some people enjoy criticizing it. I somehow understand why they complain about, but I don't agree with them. It is said that the characters of One Piece are not well drawn. This is mainly because One Piece doesn't have the characteristic design of a manga, with the tram-sized eyes and all that stuff. But all the places are magnifically depicted: the sort of details in the scenarios is just amazing. And it makes me really like it.

Another topic that deserves to be talked about is the fight against prejudice. One Piece sometimes deals with these themes. It can be an allegory, like in the case of prejudice against fishpeople (an allegory for the situation of African-Americans in recent history). It can also be right to the point, like homosexuality. There are homosexual and transexual characters, and the way Luffy deals with them is an example of how it should be. He has zero prejudice against and even enjoys dancing along the "Okama Way" song. Eiichiro Oda uses One Piece to state that every kind of prejudice is bad no matter what.

There's also nothing wrong about being weird or unconventional. Most members of the Straw Hats formerly suffered prejudice in their lives, before they became members of the crew. Some were considered deluded and dumb; some considered pathetic; some were even considered demons or human aberrations. But they all suffered it, but they all found a safe haven of friendship among themselves. That is why the crew dynamic works so well. Because all of them were marginalized by society and they all know what it is to feel bad simply for being who they were.

One should never feel bad for being who they are, and One Piece makes a good job pointing it. The world is unjust and sometimes cruel, but it is always worth fighting for freedom and justice.