Jul 27, 2023
Naoki Urasawa is well known for not outlining the story before he writes it. That much is clear in his writing. He is fortunately a very good thriller writer. Monster turns pages like a girl who is a professional page-turner. Throughout the story you meet interesting characters with interesting stories that intertwine with each other. But Urasawa struggles to hit the landing; you've been tracking all these threads for 162 chapters, wondering where they'll end up, just to realize that Urasawa doesn't really know either. He tries to catch as many threads as he can, but it is unsatisfying to say the least. While the
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Jul 27, 2023
Yagate Kimi ni Naru
(Manga)
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Yagate Kimi ni Naru is known as the "yuri with a plot". Which is fresh for the genre, but not for literature in general. It's like all the yuri authors have been sitting in a cave and one finally comes out and says: "Behold! I have constructed a well thought out plot!" Yeah, that's what we've all been doing out here.
In the cold outside world, this is a somewhat poorly paced, unremarkable story. So let us return back to the cave of yuri, where Yagate Kimi ni Naru indeed stands out. Let's look what we have here... Obviously the girls are cute, and they have ... Jul 27, 2023
Beck is, fundamentally, about five dudes in a band, and their friends, growing up. Other things happen: romance, guns, and obviously music. But the manga is at its best when all that takes a back seat, and the characters get to sit in a shitty bar or restaurant and talk crap at each other. As with most starving artists, Beck are at the bottom of society. But while they face more setbacks than a chiropractor, it never feels like they are standing still. Every chapter is "five steps forward and four steps back", and while the plot may not always be very realistic (there are
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