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This is a solid manga that has one special feature I have not seen anywhere else: It is a slice of life, but the characters develop. In the end, Yugami-kun is story about the characters and how they evolve as people. What's strange is that nothing of exception happens in this manga, but you feel more movement than many action stories, simply because the characters change in a real way.

I think Yugami-kun is almost a perfect slice-of-life. It encapsulates the day-to-day vibes of a high-schooler. I feel like I'm simply viewing the perspective of a somewhat odd teenager.

It has no anime bullshit either ... which is amazing. So no love triangles, no obsessive or random attachment to characters by another character. It's an amazingly healthy manga that's incredibly boring in its summarized form but is relaxing and fascinating due to how invested you are in the characters, simply because they feel so real, and they can actually change, which is rare in media in general.

I also found the character of Yugami fascinating. His steadfastness in acting out what he believes in and his unwaveringness in the face of ridicule is inspiring to me, and even lead me to question self-consciousness in my own life. While I may not agree with everything he says, he is a grounded person I admire. One message which is reinforced throughout the manga is how you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. This message is not presented in a preachy way, instead it showed me that through the characters actions and beliefs.

Take Chihiro, the heroine, she was really self-conscious of eating alone when she first transferred to school, which is a valid and common concern for high schoolers. However, somehow, that worry's importance seemed so insignificant when Yugami just eats alone by choice every single day. In the end, Chihiro did find friends to eat with, but I think that she found friends organically and enjoyed eating with them, instead of eating with people because she was ashamed of eating alone. Maybe I'm reading too much into those moments, but it definitely felt like the manga was telling me that it's both ok to eat alone and to not eat alone, it just depends on what you want to do.

I hesitated between giving this manga an 8 or a 9 out of 10. It was definitely not a 10 as a 10/10 manga doesn't get 10 because of some hard thinking or logic, a manga can only be a 10 if I feel like it is a 10. So, the reason I gave this manga an 8 instead of a 9 is because a 9 needs to blow my mind. This manga is a 9 in its execution and steady quality from beginning to end. But I just don't feel like it should get a 9. It is therefore an 8, very good.

This manga might not be for everyone. It can definitely be boring if you are not invested in the characters and don't enjoy them simply being themselves. Try it out, maybe the message found in its mundaneness will inspire you as it did me.

In short:
It's good. It's a good manga.
It offered things that I had not seen before in other manga, or not that often. One of the novel things was how I felt the characters were a lot more level-headed. It was by no means perfect, but for a romance, it is more grounded than many.

I also personally really liked how they touched upon the theme of improvement and dedication. Like the main character sometimes explicitly states how continuous practice is important.

This last point about practice actually leads me to talk about something else I enjoyed about the characters. I liked the main character, at least ... in the first 50 chapters of the manga, acknowledged his love for the basketball girl, but also acknowledged his priorities. I think that too often romance is overromanticized by characters, and I appreciate how I can give a pat on the back to the main character for understanding that it is not by dropping his goals that he will be able to get into a relationship with the girl. He should still focus on what makes him happy as an individual.

Another point about the characters I liked is that, at least in the first 50 chapters, the relationship between the basketball girl and the main guy felt very organic. I thought I was watching real people. I'll repeat, I really enjoyed how normal they seemed and how in touch with their own goals they seemed.

On to what I didn't like. I mentioned earlier the caveat about positives especially being in the first 50 chapters, and that is because I feel like the manga takes a turn to a more typical, tropey romance. I'll list off a few examples that made me sad to see I'm a manga I had higher expectations for:
- The gymnastics girl whole thing of being in love with the main guy and constantly treating it like a competition to win the guy over even if she knows he doesn't like her back and likes someone else
- To add to the last point: I didn't like how the main guy reacted to what the gymnastics girl was doing. He should've been more decisive. It was really sad seeing the unhealthy relationship develop between the guy and gymnastics girl.
- Actually, I don't like how the author wrote in love triangle. It was at the beginning just something between two people, and it was really interesting to see how they reacted, but adding another person to the mix is just a cheap way to create drama, especially when you drag it out. Had it been resolved earlier, it wouldn't count as a negative for this manga, but dragging it on so that it becomes a major plot point for such a big part of the manga just lowered my expectations for this manga.
- Something else I didn't enjoy was the addition of the handsome basketball guy. When I saw what they were doing with him, I was just amazed at how low the manga had sunk. The guy is just a douche who is written to be disliked. For example, basketball guy chimed in on a date between main guy and basketball girl, and when the basketball girl left them for a bit, basketball guy told main guy to leave. Then he continued being passive aggressive and was listing off obviously dumb reasoning as to why main guy should stop chasing her. It was stuff like: main guy has to spend time practicing while basketball guy is good at basketball naturally, so therefore main guy won't have time for basketball girl and should stop pursuing her. Like what?? I just didn't expect such base levels drama from a manga I thought was better than this.
- There were other things that bothered me but these are the most glaring issues
As you can see, I didn't enjoy the path the manga took. I'm sad it had to turn out this way. As of writing this, I am on chapter 84 out of 100 (I think). I might still finish it cause I'm so far already. But I feel like the last 40 chapters were dragged out and had no substance or character development that couldn't have been done quicker. It reminds me of how romcoms usually drag on, it gave me the vibe of Nisekoi when it was going on and on while seeming to progress but nothing actually was progressing.

Note to past self: Just read to chapter 40ish and be happy.

On an ending note, this is a romance that has good and bad. I personally preferred the first half. I liked how they approached the characters and their personal motivations and ambitions. It becomes a cliche romance triangle in the second half. 8 for first half, 5 for second half.

Disclaimer: I believe the most important thing about an anime is how it makes you feel. It will be a different experience for everyone, but the reader can decide for themselves if they want to perhaps feel the same things as me. In short, this review is about how the anime made me feel.

As an anime watcher, I feel like I watched my fair share of shows. I got to a point where I wasn't as invested in them anymore. The feeling of bitterness when a show ends became numb.

I base my rating of shows on how I feel watching them. The feeling ... that makes me rate this show a 10 is the feeling that makes me rate a show a 10. I feel like I should.

Sonny Boy brought me to a world of its own, and completely captivated me while watching it. I think that what makes an anime enjoyable for a person is what circumstances that person inhabits. In short, my feelings for this show arose because I watched it at the right time in my life.

I'm at a point in life where I don't believe much in the power of hope to change things. I feel like how much I desire to do something won't change if it happens. Sonny Boy's themes include the unchanging nature of things, that no matter how hard you desire it, some things just won't change, most importantly the fact that things will never stop changing. The fact that the characters' embrace it when returning to their original world is inspiring.

I like anime that bring me in a zone of uncertainty in my mind, like a constant anxiety about things. While watching this show, I was brought back to the most sober of states, one that is devoid of my constant efforts to never truly be alone with my thoughts. The show dragged me back. I love it when shows do that to me.

On to more concrete stuff, the show is deep. I don't want to skirt around that word's elitist connotations. I use the word deep in its truest sense, which is that the show gave me full liberty to dig into it, while gently assuring me that it won't disappoint my efforts of finding out what it wants to say. I'm sure it had its fair share of imperfection, but I don't mind that. The show assured me that I won't be exasperated at its stupidity too much, that what I enjoy about the show won't be destroyed. A kind of faith.

This faith came from me being unable to figure out whether mistakes I thought I saw were truly mistakes or were deliberate. I'm not sure when during the show I gave almost everything the benefit of the doubt, but it earned my trust somehow. This is unlike some other shows which I feel are so transparent what they're trying to do, tropes, intention and whatnot. It has been a long time since I felt so entranced.

I don't mean to sound I'm 14 and this is deep and if I did, I did. But I tried to capture what I thought the best I could.

In closing, maybe this won't be your cup of tea, but it was for me, because of its thought-provoking ideas, unconventional story and art direction, beautiful use of silence and other stuff you'll have to find out for yourself.

TL;DR Forget Kirito and the other hundred pretenders of being the isekai chad, Anos Voldigold will kill them with his heartbeat and by blinking (actually happens in the show). It's actually funny. Watch it if you're isekai trash!!!


Long version of the review ahead (with spoilers!!!!)


Story - 7

The overall plot is slightly above average. You're probably not going to watch this for the feels or the deep moments. It's typical isekai trash

However, the story is enhanced by the over the top renditions of cliches. The op mc kills with his heartbeat as mentioned previously, dude drains a lake by exploding, he defeats time itself??? So comedy ... wise it's really funny if you know all the cliches already.

I almost forgot but at one moment the mcs FANCLUB STARTS SINGING TO GRANT HIM MAGICAL POWER, which overpowers the combined efforts of 10 million people. Like, wtf, it's hilarious


Art - 7

Honestly it impressed me, probably because my expectations were non-existent. The anime actually has some cool special effects and sometimes the 3D CG works in its favor cause the graphics look so dumb yet so detailed.

For reals though, there are some impressive graphics sometimes.


Sound - 6

Sound was average, not much to say. The OST was forgettable. I watched the dub and the voices did not hinder my experience. The idol songs were really really average. The sound didn't let the show down though, it was just generally forgettable


Character - 7

Anos Voldigold is a chad, he carried the show. He is charismatic and impressive and he left his mark for an isekai character. The other characters were generic af.

Small footnote for characters: Somehow I got Code Geass vibes in the last few episodes between 2 main characters. I almost think that the creator intentionally made references to Code Geass characters. Since the dynamic between Lelouch and Kururugi from Code Geass was so good, just seeing a hint of it inside this trash isekai anime somehow made it kinda emotional ;-;


Enjoyment - 8

It's funny.


Overall - 8

Watch it if you're an isekai trash lover and want a guaranteed good time.

The story was just more boring than the series. The series has mystery surrounding how everything works and the discovering the system and secrets of the Selecao operation was pretty interesting. The movie has no such interest factor. Yes, Takizawa loses his memory again, but I feel like I'm rewatching the first part of the series again seeing him puzzled and Saki slowly helping him remember who he is. Basically, the movie just has a lot less going on.

The worst part of the movie is the collection of characters. The Eden of the East crew feel like they are just there. They're at the head ... of the company but they don't do anything. And how did they get so many workers in the first place and work the operation smoothly when most of them have the social IQ of a neet, which is what they were. It's just grating how a crew that contains an absolutely useless Oosugi is perfectly leading a company. Like how did they get there?

The guy with glasses and black hair has too short a temper. Saki just listens to the black haired glasses guy scream at him over the phone ordering what to do. Like wtf basic respect with your friends you're not even capable of that? Pants guy just came along the group and acted like the token fat smart guy of the group that tries to act cool but fails. (Steins Gate?) I guess the worst part about the characters is that they were just there, and not doing anything. Saki didn't mature at all. In the series it felt like she was trying to become a little more independent. In the movie that progress is stunted: he completely relies on Takizawa. She also does the emotional character speech that's completely illogical but I'll do something because my feelings are too strong. (this happens when she tells black haired glasses guy he would save Takizawa by acting rashly because she feels bad for him, which only endangers her and thus the whole ass operation of saving Takizawa in the first place) Finally, seeing Takizawa having amnesia again gave be déjà vu boredom.

Basically my gripe with the movie is that nothing happened and that the characters were uninspiring.


Tl;dr Worst than the series in every aspect except visually

Quite bluntly, I'm sad that this manga started as a funny, unpredictable action manga and slowly became a mess where tension has been lost and the plot twists seem contrived now in chapter 56.

The sexual harassment fanservice played for laughs wasn't very funny as well.

Art was always good.

After a while, in my opinion, the story became too meta. The emotional and deep moments also weren't because they felt forced. All in all, I think the story slowly ran out of energy.

I still think that people should read this manga. It was greatly executed for the first 20 or so chapters. Have fun reading :)

TL;DR Whimsy refreshing fantasy/comedy/calm/parody manga.



Some comments

Whimsy manga that somehow feels fresh because of the premise and whimsiness of it. I say whimsy because the mood switches very often abruptly. Personally I think that's my expectation of the manga but those that come expecting a stable mood or feel going through it kinda like the sadness of Oyasumi Punpun or the rom-com isekai feel of Konosuba might be surprised.

It doesn't have power-trip service like many other fantasy manga do. In that sense, it's a clean refreshing manga I can read when so many other bore me.

...

Aspect by aspect comments

Story 8
All over the place in a whimsy fashion

Art 9
Clean and cool

Character 8
Main cast is cool. No overly exaggerated trait that made any one of them dislikeable

Enjoyment 10
Captivated my attention because of the uniqueness

Spoilers ahead.

This anime is good.


CHARACTERS

The characters are fleshed out. Their troubles hit close to home.

Hoshino's sad state when he was demotivated is similar to how I feel sometimes. I'm glad he came out of that phase, it gives hope for me.
...
I'm glad Kazama doesn't feel as stressed as before when thinking about ping pong. I would've liked to see the process and the realization.

Some character changes felt rushed, like Sanada giving up his infatuation with the ad girl.


STORY

The ending episode(s) felt weird:

- First, the final tournament. It feels like a lot less effort went into hiding the plot armor. I definitely felt weird after Hoshino beat Wenge and Kazama since they trained really hard, a lot more than Hoshino. Maybe it was to illustrate once again the importance of talent in winning.

- Second, the time-skip at the end. I'm glad there's a happy ending. I felt emotional. But I was a bit disappointed that it's like a happily ever after. Maybe it's better than a forced sad ending, I don't know. I'm glad all characters are doing well.


ART

Rough lines made for more dynamic feel, sometimes.

It helps also that I didn't find any of the characters attractive just because of how they look. If I did, it was because of who they were.


SOUND

Opening has some lyrics that make me emotional when I see them.


ENJOYMENT

It's 3:46 am as I write this as I finished watching the anime.

Definitely the emotions are stronger because I'm in a though spot. I have a lot of responsibilities I've ran away from that are on the verge of collapsing on me.

I empathized on a hard level with the characters and I hope I can stop running away.


OVERALL

A great watch. The characters are well developed. There are many lessons to be taken too.

One quote that resonated with me was:
"The only way to be sure you won't lose is to not fight."
- Sakuma to Hoshino. Episode 4. 8:57.

Gantz has awesome action, art, fanservice, emotional scenes and mystery.

It was thrilling to read and I wasn't able to put it down. A big plus was the cute girls, not that they were just fanservice, but there were cute girls.


Spoilers ahead

The mystery was slowly unveiled but some curiosities weren't satisfied, such as the vampire dudes and his brother. Also the deal with the two Kuronos, did both live? (I might have missed it)

When the end of the world came I got Tokyo Ghoul;re vibes, but it was more comprehensible.
...
It's an absolute angst fest sometimes, but that's why it was sometimes so captivating.



Tldr: gave me Tokyo Ghoul and Attack on Titan vibes. Cute girls (w/ nice fanservice), hype action, extremely detailed art, deep, emotional scenes and mildly satisfying conclusion. (Most of the mysteries were answered tho) (some weren't clear :()


8/10 personally

Please don't be scared away by the "10" I gave this. If you check my profile, you'll see I rarely give 9 to manga/LN I've read, even less 10.

This blew me away. This is a manga that made me consciously think about how goddamn good it was while I was reading it.
Since I don't feel like writing full paragraphs, I'll be listing bullet points.


If you don't want spoilers, skip to the TL;DR at the end


Notes:
... - MC / main girl = Yuu
- even though I write off Yuu as being the "main", Touko is also really important


Initial reactions (feelings I got while reading)

- started manga for feels and fuzziness of the heart
- stayed for story, character development, art, feels and fuzziness of the heart

- wow main girl isn't some perfect / overly timid / gutless / annoyingly self-conscious shoujo character

- had she not had a pretty face (dammit, I know, I'm shallow), I most probably would've still fallen for her

- woah this is strange. The story's romantic progression is probably as slow when measuring its romprogress/chapter average compared to other romances, but somehow it isn't because of misunderstandings / fucking interruptions / cockblocking (btw this is shoujo ai) love triangles (more on this last point later). It is slow but not crammed on "comedic" filler.


Memorabilily

- I'm going to be sad when this manga ends, it's truly one of a kind


Art

- Clean and soft and simply cute but not cute to the point that you think the author's trying to manipulate your feels

- the girls are simple but they are cute

- there is enough background to not feel lost (I know, it's important), but it's still so cleaan

- I know I've said this before, but the MC is really cute


Characters

- Yuu, the main girl, isn't not confessing to her love interest because she's shy or because of some plot created cockblocking, it's because she just hasn't yet fallen for her future love interest
- She's not based off of a "dere" type and she's not timid when simply talking to her love interest

- Touko is Yuu's partner in their destined pairing.
- I'll be honest, she takes from the trope of the "perfect saint social nice girl but on the inside she isn't as strong as she shows, she's only forcing herself because of pressure".
- she declares her love early on (yay)

- other characters aren't dicks
- even the girl who creates a love triangle since she likes Touko isn't one, she takes her simple and clear rejection which doesn't create drama like a responsible teenager
- they don't create drama, even the love triangle girl


Synopsis

- clear one-on-romance.

- side character aren't dependant on main character

- girl 2 and girl 1 meet
- girl 2 falls in love and confesses to girl 1
- girl 1 doesn't feel love for girl 2 (yet), so she rejects girl 2 for now
- girl 1 and girl 2 have progression, on the way there's character development on them and also side characters (who are important)
- girl 1 eventually confesses to girl 2
- girl 1 believes girl 2 rejected her
- after 1-2 chapters of running away do to a misunderstanding of a promess (it's only 1-2 chapters, calm down), they are together
- [rest are chapters not yet released]

- you don't feel constant anguish for the predictable rejection to the side-love-triangle-girl since you know she won't be emotionally destroyed and won't wail in self-pity when she'll be rejected

- cute


Recommendation

- read it if you want clear one-on-romance.

- there is more fluff than in romcoms

- steady progression that isn't side-tracked by drama/interruptions

- cute


TL;DR

- clear girl1xgirl2 romance in typical school setting

- no drama nor cheap plot interruptions

- all characters are likeable

- story overall is filled with moments that make you go "yes!", "great assist!", "woah, she made a move this early?!", "hmm, clever wordplay" and "cute!"

- gave this a 10 because of how frequently the moments mentioned in the previous point appeared