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In my journey to read top rated mangas, enter: Koe no katachi

No spoiler review

This is a socially awkward, hard to read (emotionally), yet so satisfying to get through, tear jerking manga. There is a heavy atmosphere of social awkwardness and social uncertainty throughout the manga. Watching characters deal with these situations, evokes powerful emotions from situations forgotten by memory but remembered by the heart. There are many eye watering moments in this manga as characters interact, reveal secrets, hurt each other,love, hate ect…ect. This manga explores some of the “what ifs” of difficult social situations, its heart wrenching at times but as long as you ... have love and a little masochism, you'll be ok and wanting more ;).

8.5/10

* uniqueness 8/10

* unpredictability 9/10

* non mainstream 8/10

In my journey to read top rated mangas, enter: Koe no katachi

No spoiler review

This is a socially awkward, hard to read (emotionally), yet so satisfying to get through, tear jerking manga. There is a heavy atmosphere of social awkwardness and social uncertainty throughout the manga. Watching characters deal with these situations, evokes powerful emotions from situations forgotten by memory but remembered by the heart. There are many eye watering moments in this manga as characters interact, reveal secrets, hurt each other,love, hate ect…ect. This manga explores some of the “what ifs” of difficult social situations, its heart wrenching at times but as long as you ... have love and a little masochism, you'll be ok and wanting more ;).

8.5/10

* uniqueness 8/10

* unpredictability 9/10

* non mainstream 8/10

Spoiler free review



The art:

The strictly realistic art, sets a serious tone throughout the manga. It never or rarely feels exaggerated, pretentious or flat out wacky. It depicts emotions in a natural, REAListic way, without trying to force them unto readers. Captivating, even from the cover, Inoue’s incredible artistic vision of facial expressions give characters a living vibe. The main characters are laid bare in artistic REALism, drawn masterfully in private situations and strong emotional states. Theres a deep, almost intimate connection made with them.



...
The Story:

Tough revolving around it the whole manga, wheelchair basketball is mostly used as a catalyst for story/events and also as a stage to exhibit character development. Most of the REAL DRAMA happens outside the court, in the lives of the main characters, how they cope with with REAL life difficult, AWKWARD, Far from fairy tale like, situations. Ambivalence, acceptance(not only of others but of oneself), REGRET, true friendship, starting over, love(in general), are just some of the major themes masterfully explored and expressed in REAL. This story is a down right, in your face reminder of the cruelties of real life. Little to no plot armor here, no magic dragon balls, no sugar coating it for readers, no tears falling on someone to magically heal them, no super emotional screams = flashy power up sequences, no super hero magic powers. The only super heroes you'll find here are personifications of REAL life, flesh and blood heroes. And the only powers here, are the ones of the human spirit, exhibited in true magnificence.
It is NOT as dark!!! depressing or gloomy as one might think when judging the "cover" or synopsis. I would even venture out and say its heart warming and inspiring. The unpretentious, unexaggerated darkness, has a natural “REAL life” feeling to it. A darkness we are used to, for its all around us. But this story isn't about darkness(its no emo manga), its about the radiant light that contrast it, this story is about the beauty of life!

I recommend everyone give this one a try, for the quality is world class.

Generic/cliche story and characters trying to hide under pretty words, slight philosophy and mainstream sugar coated darkness. Complete with same old formulated, generic/cliche, eye rolling “sympathize with me”/”like me!!!!” scenes, some of which really hurt identity of key characters and the story.

Tired/predictable story formula:
Suicidal girl meets “him” > you know what happens > you know what happens > you know what happens > end. In between, skippable/unimportant/boring dialogue and drawn out events to force the story into the next stage of the formulated story…well most of the time anyways. The surprises aren't worth reading the whole story.
The ending was decent tough, somewhat beautiful but ... also somewhat ruined.



Seriously tough, How much do they pay you 10/10 guys?

The two main characters are bland. I don't even know if the second main character is even necessary. The heroine doesn't seem like the typical “we must put in a female love interest” in this one, but she still seems unnecessary and is pretty much useless most of the anime. When she does get used, its in an annoying and cliche way. The whole romance part of the story is like second dull story that should have been taken out.
Another ANNOYING thing about this anime is that it goes out of its way to put crowd pleasers that take away the seriousness from the show, ... like flashy/silly actions scenes, and ridiculous/lazy excuses so you sympathize with certain characters more.
The whole story ends up being rather dull and somewhat pointless. Its like little chunks of story too far apart in between this huge filler train. If you don't like the fist episodes then you should probably stop watching because there is little to look forward to in terms of reward. Basically, the story develops in a SLOW way and is overshadowed by A LOT of filler and useless stuff. And the story/mystery turns out to be a “really, thats it?” meh.

Lets start with the art on this one. The art is confusing and looks like rough sketches with marker shading, especially in the beginning chapters. A lot of pages feel like partial rough sketches with unfinished parts. Want to see what the abyss looks like? Nope, you’ll get very little clear shots of it(if any). Most of the time, the abyss will be undetailed/foggy/unclear/rough sketch like. No majestic scenery a la Berserk or Kingdom here. Also, the facial expressions on some characters are really unimaginative/1 dimensional. The art does get better in the latter chapters, still confusing and unclear but better.
Now the story. Its like ... a story for kids, complete with overly simplified plots, Generic 1 dimensional lifeless villains and cutesy wootsy stuff all over. Looking for complex plot or characters? You in the wrong place buddy. The twist in this story, is that it brings out MATURE content every once in a while, making a nice contrast with the cutesy wootsy stuff (some of it is just PERVERTED tough). The exciting, mysterious, imagination provoking abyss is what really carries this story. As a double edge sword though, the abyss also gives the author too much freedom so sometimes important events seem meaningless.
If you like cutesy wootsy stuff and 7 year olds save the world type stories but want one with a mature content twist, then you are probably going to like this one. NOT so much as mature, just MATURE CONTENT.

Made by a woman!!!…which is not a bad thing, but you'll be reminded EVERY chapter of it. From overly “handsome” (or tried to be anyways) male characters to sparkles around characters to things women think guys like/think. The whole thing just SCREAMS out woman's fantasy.
Its like a story a teen older sister would tell to her little brother. It often dips too much into fantasy , with drawn out and illogical events, extreme unrealism, last second saves (how you get there, how did no one notice you, do you have teleport ability?). Its also protagonist the hero heavy.
The humor, predictable yet not predictable ... nature, and uncertainty (some may call it directionless) that parallels real life keep “Yona of the dawn” afloat. I recommend this to women, women who fantasize about men a lot, and to men who fantasize about…men.