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Jun 15, 2023
Baki Dou (2018) or Sumo-Dou as it came to be known, could generously be called inventive and more realistically could be called "controversial". The fifth Baki series by Keisuke Itagaki, this series is no stranger to mixed opinions by the general public, with many people being turned off by the artstyle of the series, which really couldn't be called pretty by any stretch of the imagination. But Sumo-Dou feels unique in that it's the first of Itagaki's series that seemed intensely polarizing to people who were already fans of the manga. I feel this reason is the management of expectations. To be 100% clear, this
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series is basically a gaiden or a side story to Baki. I expect if the average reader were to go from the 4th to the 6th series of Baki there would be little confusion or need to backtrack. Because relatively nothing of consequence to the main plot of Baki happens. Now if this were marketed as a sidestory or some kind of break for Itagaki from the main story as it were, I think far, far fewer people would have a negative opinion of this manga. But let's say you're a fan of Itagaki's writing and style, and you simply want to read more of his fights. I think this series is perfectly adequate in that regard. Itagaki is a master of his craft, and some of the action stands on par with his best work in the past. The reason I called it inventive because the opponents are by and large a completely different style the previous fighters in Baki's series, with not focusing on one singular character with multiple fights but more hopping around with different perspectives.
Now the one aspect of this story I think will be relevant in the next series by Itagaki is definitely the parts of the story focusing on Jack Hanma, a beloved fan favorite from earlier parts who returned after a extended absence in the story. Really this series amounts as a set-up for the next series to focus on Jack, (Baki Rahen, out now!) already dubbed Jack-Dou by the fans. Realistically, I'm not sure if it would be considered required reading for a undecided reader. I think this particular entry in the Baki Saga will mostly have it's fate decided by it's following series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 1, 2022
I thought I should leave a review praising what Oh Great! and Nisio Oisin are doing here because I think it is fantastic on every level and deserves to have more people talking about it.
Now to start off with, like many manga/anime fans, for a long time I had only second hand knowledge of the Monogatari series. I had seen a couple of gifs from the Kizu movies when they came out, I heard of the infamous toothbrush scene and maybe an arist I followed drew Hanekawa. On a whim, I decided to read this manga because of a buddy of mine, not really
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sure what to expect. Needless to say, I think it surpassed whatever could possibly be expected of a manga adaptation of a light novel after it's already been adapted into an anime. That's the kicker here, this is not an adaptation of the anime, either Bake or any of it's subsequent material. This is purely Oh Great's interpretation of the LN on many levels.
Now to flat out state it, after reading the first official translation of the LN and watching the anime (just got done with the Kizu movies today), as well as starting to rewatch the anime with character commentary turned on, I think I can safely say that this is the definitive interpretation of the story, bar some scenes or the order that is down to personal preference. Not only is Oh Great's art excellent and only continues to improve, the translation being easy to follow and I think sheds some light onto confusing elements of the previous adaptations due to the gap between Japanese and English, the visual flair of Oh Great! and the elements of the story that have been added either from the Light Novel or purely from Oh Great enhance the story in fascinating ways. It is fun in the way that comics can only provide, compiling imagery and visual metaphor together to create something that neither novels or animation can fully capture, purely on it's own merit. Give it a shot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 7, 2021
So to start out with, I don't think you should listen to the reviews of this manga saying it's "glorifying" and "romanticizing" bullying. Anyone who can distinguish fiction from reality should be able to tell this is a fantasy of having a cute, tan JK dom and tease you. Femdom has thousands of doujins and stories written with it for a reason, because it appeals to a wide group of people. This is what this is, a romcom story with light femdom elements, but ultimately a romcom that is not meant to be taken super seriously. So with that in mind, let's move on to
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the actual review.
So to start out with, the story. Now the story is mostly episodic, with a couple smaller arcs that last a couple chapters, again pretty standard romcom manga structuring. Whether each week appeals to you or not depends on your taste, but they all follow a pretty similar format. Some concept or other device of romcomland aka "going to the beach, summer festival, cosplay" etc Nagatoro calls her senpai gross and lewd, closet pervert etc but ultimately ends up going along with it and usually revealing either a) sweet love/affection b) jealousy of other women c) getting flustered by something senpai does and running away/ hiding it behind more teasing. Again the quality really ranges from week to week, some chapters I'm like wow that was a pretty good payoff but other times it's like really that's the entire chapter? that's the big idea for this week? So yeah a mixed bag on that front
Art is pretty good, I'd say it has charm but it's nothing to write home about. Honestly I feel like Nanashi reuses a lot of the same expressions and stuff to much, it can start to feel kind of samey.
For character there's only two that really matter obv. The titular Nagataro and her henpecked senpai.
Nagataro is mostly sadistic and teasing, but she can show a measure of sweetness, innocence, shyness and genuine affection, especially later in the series once their relationship has seen more development She also gets jealous very easily when other female are interacting with Senpai, and we see she is only sadistic towards him. Senpai is a bit whipped on a whole, but he seems to charm Nagataro enough, though personally I wish he had more oppurtunities to show off his chivalry/manliness but their dynamic is fine how it is.
Personally I don't really like femdom or think watching a guy being super submissive sounds super entertaining as a premise, but I read it because it seemed popular (in the top 5 on Mangadex for follows) and I read it all in one evening. I'd say whether or not you like it depends entirely on your enjoyment of either romcoms in general or watching a M/S relationship play out. An entirely gimmick based story in a sense.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 8, 2020
For Dolly Kill Kill, it seems it got axed. Which is a damn shame, because it was a really fun manga. It was visceral, with a lot of grown ass men throwing hands and an ensemble cast of characters that all have their time to shine. At least the last fight in the manga is properly paced and has a cool conclusion that feels earned unlike certain other manga I could name *cough* Magi Toriko Bleach Beezlebub Shaman King *cough* even if you don't get to see the aliens that Madoka was born from do anything except in the last chapter. The MC's power is
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kinda cliche I guess, edgelord juice is kinda overplayed, but whatever still has some cool visuals due to it. It's only 155 chapters too, so it's easy to sit down and bang out in an afternoon. If the manga wasn't axed, it could have a higher score then it does, but that's how the cookie crumbles I guess.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 26, 2019
Hanma Baki is without a doubt the in my mind the most consistently amazing martial arts manga ever written, if not the best martial arts media of all time. 3 masterclass sagas, back to back. The Prison arc, with the manliest duel I've ever seen, as well as the wonderful weirdness of Oliva vs Baki. Then we get to the raw savage action of the Pickle saga, with Katsumi Orochi surpassing his limits to land possibly the strongest single strike in the history of Baki's world, even surpassing the likes of the iron tail of the Tyrannosaurus Rex or the giant weight of the Supersaurus.
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Jack's biggest "fuck you" in history. And then my lord, the fantastic father and son duel. Perfectly executed for what Itagaki was going for.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 18, 2018
So when I started Shaman King, I didn't have too many expectations, or any really idea of what was going to happen. I was blown away by how much fun I was having. I wasn't this invested in a story since One Piece, and I was having a ridiculous amount of fun. It came to a climax with the rematch that started off the actual Shaman Fight, but I was still having a lot of fun with the plot after that with Hao. But as soon as we got into the actual Shaman Fight, things just got worse and worse. The magic that had made
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me love Shaman King was gone. Character moments were skipped or ignored, the characters either acted inconsisently or what they set out to do was rendered irrelevant, and many fell to the wayside. This clusterfuck of just awful stuff came to a head in the last stretch of 25 or so chapters, where the final "fight" takes place, where people are nice to the guy who wants to murder their entire race. And then there's some timeskip bullshit where we learn Yoh and Anna are bum parents who abandoned their kid to kumbayah the fuck else, Horo-Horo is a hobo squatting in a field, Joco is in fucking prison for some reason, Ren is married to someone that he's had one interaction with, and the best character in SK in Tamao's errand boy and babysitter. oh and Manta is there. Do not read this manga if you are looking for a satisfying final few chapters. Go read Yu-Go-Oh instead.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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