Back to Rheine's Profile Rheine's Profile

Adamas is an interesting manga. It's tagged as Seinen and it does read like a Seinen manga, but it's got a female main character with a romance subplot as well, so it has shades of josei thrown in.

A big part of Adamas is Reika taking down the big jewelry company that's been controlling the industry for hundreds of years, while picking up side jobs here and there.

The story itself is quite great, with plot points introduced, expanded upon, and resolved in a satisfying manner. Though it's not mindblowing or overly memorable, reading it is always enjoyable.

The special powers are pretty nifty too, with different ... characters each having a different power drawn from different gems - crystals help with healing, rubies grant superhuman strength, emeralds enhances the user's perception, and so on. It's neat how the characters try to overcome their opponents using wits, teamwork, and their own power.

The cast is also quite likeable and unique. The main cast is sufficiently developed and even the supporting cast usually have background stories or twists on their own.

And the art is really good. The characters look great with clean lines and the actions scenes are typically easy to follow. Although some characters can look weird at times, especially those of Caucasian descent.

Overall, it's recommended for those looking for a good action/supowerpower manga with a more realistic bent.

Boukyaku no Sachiko is about three aspects of Sachiko's life: her coming to terms with her love lost, her unique and fastidious way of dealing with her often stressful work, and her enjoying various types of superbly drawn food. Through the chapters, we get to see her grow into a more full-fledged person, with deeper relationships and richer palate as well.

The art is a bit on the simple side with clean lines and not many effects, but it does the job well and everything is easy to read. However, the mangaka spared no expense in rendering each of the food. Sauces, meats, and even soups ... are all drawn very intricately and beautifully, enough to make your stomach growl.

Of course, no culinary manga is complete without eating reactions. Sachiko usually employs imageries related to the chapter's story to express her enjoyment (e.g. becoming a diver in a beautiful underwater world in a chapter about seafood). It's still somewhat fantastical, but not really overblown like shonen manga, especially since it all takes place in her head.

For those looking for a more realistic culinary manga with adult troubles (especially romance, and work) should definitely give this manga a try.