People who compared this manga to the likes of Berserk, Bleach and Attack on Titan are all right about that. I just think those manga executes those aspects better, tho I have to say Claymore's influence for AoT can't be undermined. I like to compare this manga to those other 3 in my review because I love all of them a great deal, and find the similarities interesting.
Story:
First I was intrigued by the first 20 to 30 chapters, especially by Clare and Teresa's backstory but after that the events accelerated and focused on mostly fights where a new character suddenly showed up with even greater
...
power than previous ones and the entire direction of the story went sideways from the main character's personal revenge arc that I almost entirely stopped caring. The saving grace was the underlying plot and origin of Claymores, that had some going for it, but that didn't matter at the end. At least our characters got a mostly satisfying ending to their arcs.
The world definitely Berserk like, and the main drive of revenge is also there, but Guts and Griffith are better characters and have a stronger common past than the characters involved here. Despite that the backstory is the strongest part of the manga for me. Sadly it's early on.
The main plot is really similar to AoT's but it has less foreshadowing and definitely not as subtle tho it does it well enough so I don't have much gripes with that. BUT how it was revealed is way weaker, and just sudden. We just got told this by someone who's secretly searching for proof of her suspicions.
And finally the fights are Bleach-like in their spiritual power sensing, sword-playing, power-scaling way and by the constant reminder of how strong someone is, and what they're rank is. Which in my opinion hurt this story the most, because it really started to focus on it and I just don't care about this when they already said someone's rank is not entirely determines their strength and adds nothing to the emotional storytelling. Other than characters gasping "oh the former number 1 awakened creature of the abyss is here!" Okay, but WHICH ONE? Why should I care? Why there's so many new characters introduced every second chapter just to die or get no or almost non-existent development? AoT really does power-scaling best by not doing it. It doesn't matter which titan you have, all can be beaten with combined effort of soldiers, or if someone uses their titan with more skill, tenacity or wits. No top 1 strongest titan title is needed.
So if the story had more focus on our main character's personal journey from start to finish I'd enjoyed it more instead of all this fighting for the sake of fighting. (Even if it was cool as heck.)
7.5/10
Art:
It's the manga's strongest aspect without a doubt. When I first seen pictures of the characters (mostly from anime) I thought they're ugly and look the same. Now I think while they're similar the author did a great job distinguishing them with their hairstyles and face. As someone with hair fetish I really appreciated it, because they all looked beautiful/cool/stunning in their own ways. On the other hand the monster designs are one of the bests I've seen in manga. Extremely detailed, unique in form and powers and create striking double page spreads! Background art is nice tho as someone who's not a big fan of medieval fantasy the setting wasn't memorable enough.
I think the art is one of the most consistent I've seen in manga, but rarely peaked. It was easy to read, and welcoming for the eyes, never had to force myself to understand what's going on which sometimes happens with even the greats. Paneling nothing special but easily understandable.
8.5/10
Character:
Most of the cast doesn't get much development or even if they get, their time in the story is short-lived, and just serve the purpose to progress the plot. On the upside we get to see tons of different kind of characters. The main cast, like 5-10 of them get some, and there are cool stuff here, but wish the manga's nature was different and allowed more time for them to capitalize on their strengths. At least they looked good in design and their personalities carried the events. Teresa, Miria, and Cassandra were my favorites.
7/10
Enjoyment:
The atmosphere and story progression were engaging at the start, but because it started to focus on fights way too much I lost interest slowly, rarely gaining it back by reveals or character moments. The ending was nice, and I didn't regret starting the manga.
7/10
Overall:
It's an enjoyable, epic ride with great moments throughout. Consistent in content so if you liked what you seen you'll enjoy the entire journey.
LOT OF PRETTY GIRLS SLAYING MONSTERS IS CONCEPTUALLY BASED!
7.5/10
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Apr 15, 2022
People who compared this manga to the likes of Berserk, Bleach and Attack on Titan are all right about that. I just think those manga executes those aspects better, tho I have to say Claymore's influence for AoT can't be undermined. I like to compare this manga to those other 3 in my review because I love all of them a great deal, and find the similarities interesting.
Story: First I was intrigued by the first 20 to 30 chapters, especially by Clare and Teresa's backstory but after that the events accelerated and focused on mostly fights where a new character suddenly showed up with even greater ... |
