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This review contains *SPOILERS for both 'Metamorphosis' and 'Oyasumi Punpun'.

Someone compared this to 'Oyasumi Punpun', so I had to read this. Well may be because of that, it felt a little disappointing.

Both books have probably worst things happening to central character (they both have really bad luck).
BUT the difference is Punpun goes on journey of loneliness and meaning of life (there being no meaning) where as Saki just goes on the journey of pleasure not realizing the consequences.
Both the characters do represent real world but I just couldn't relate to Saki's decisions as much as Punpun.

Regarding the ending- I will admit Metamorphosis may just be ... better than OP.
First I thought the last few pages- Saki with daughter was an actual ending, only to realize that it was what she dreamed during last moments.
The message is loud and clear.

You may read it if you are more interested in Hentai part, I read it focusing on the story and it felt good enough but skippable.

*Edit* On second thought seeing how much this has stuck with me days after reading, I guess it tells quite a impressive tale.

Watch anime instead.
Reasons- Quite good music, details aren't really lost there.
Read manga in case you really love it since Manga can be read at own pace and also provides slightly different epilogue.

** spoiler alert **
If not for the epilogue I would have given this a 7 instead of 8.

Having already seen anime couple years ago I knew what to expect when I started reading this and was surprised to find out that Light, being a protagonist was actually a very lucky person.
Examples of this are- Him meeting fiancé of the FBI agent before she could meet L and then general assumptions of things going exactly ... as he planned.

For me the manga peaked when L and Light were together, I liked both the characters and it just felt like good times.
The way Light had planned everything before giving up ownership was another peak, the whole thing with Rem having to kill L was a masterstroke. And that is why I think the manga is a must read.

What I didn't like is the America part. I couldn't bring myself to care much about Near or Mello and just the chaos as Light spends time reacting to them.
It only got better when Mello was mostly out of the picture, story was back in Japan and it Light vs Near.
Except now coming to the end, it was Near who was lucky and not Light.
Near discovering x-kira doesn't have a Shinigami was too forced.
It was very wrong of Near to risk everything bringing everyone in that warehouse because X-kira/T having separate pages (like a piece Light literally had) instead of relying on Notebook would have ruined everything.
So author makes up with that with a theory of Near having written T's name in Notebook in advance.

Overall 8/10.

9/10
The story is simply Punpun and others facing hardships of the life and it gets really tense!
Punpun is a kindergarten student who has to face a crush, commitment and family issues just to start with.
At one point I wondered if Punpun is just a cursed character (who has only bad things happening to him) but still many of the incidents and memories feel just too real, I guess that's what makes the book great, it's too real sometimes.
It really portrays accurately how loneliness is, how much meaningless life can be. And just really makes me appreciate my friends, family and life.

**Spoilers ahead**

The ending was ... just alright for me, I know meeting Aiko again and the mirroring brought whole lot of meaning but still I would have preferred less poetic ending.

In first half the way time skips just kept happening as Punpun started feeling disconnected was the most scary part.
The backstories often revealed people's motives and finding out those twists was crazy, like what really had happened between Punpun's father and mother, whole Punpun's Uncle's backstory.

I really liked how atmosphere was built to further communicate the feelings,how it almost always rained was Punpun was at worst, then the rainbow when Sachi gives him hope, the whole one volume where Punpun just turns into a pyramid etc.

I didn't understand some of the side characters being in the story, like the whole Pegasus and group thing. I would rather not have preferred them in such detail. May be I would have liked more on Aiko since she had whole lot of significance at the end or even Sachi.

+The characters
+All the dark feelings and demons
+Artwork and symbolism
-Overly pessimistic?

All said, may be it's little too dark for me to be read again. Still I will like to read it again when life passes me by.

Story- 9.5/10
Art- 9/10
Character- 10/10
Enjoyment- 10/10
Overall- 9.5/10


*Spoilers ahead-

Thoughts on ending-
... I never expected the end to be so good. Watching Karasuno beat teams one after another I never thought there will be a better match than against Nekoma (I think it's still my favourite). And then came the falling apart on the 'Hell day', I was quite surprised, I couldn't believe that Karasuno finally lost. But it was also an relief, they had managed to reach top 8 after all.
The time skip was handled well enough and when Hinata got back to Japan, seeing him getting to fight Kageyama in different team (finally!), nothing beats that.
It was quite amazing seeing how much everyone had improved their skills and yes, on individual skills that was the best match to watch. I was still reminded of Karasuno who multiplied that individual skills to a great potential.

In the end I finally could relate to Hinata, he always wanted to play more and more, often not wanting the games to end. And that's what I wanted with last match as well, no care for the score just enjoying seeing everyone do their best.

More overall thoughts-
Putting aside the last 5 volumes/the ending, the series was really about so many highschool teams competing and having fun. I really love how much attention all the side characters got and how much we got to root for or admire everyone.
My eyes filling up at the end just remind me how much I liked all the characters and how happy I felt seeing their grown up selves having moved forward with their lives.
I liked how the series wasn't about just one win or loss but moving on to do better.
Going to miss all the people and can't wait to watch anime when all of it comes out.

** spoiler alert **
Mixed thoughts and honestly I am shocked.
What a mess!!!
This isn't a proper review but just my reaction-

I liked the concept of the Tokyo Ghoul because it just puts you in the shoes of a 'Ghoul'. It was so gruesome realizing the position many Ghouls were in (good ones) and all the heartbreaks.
Though the series turned itself into a mystery manga and that is something I could have done without. I think I don't do well when there are too many characters with complex motives.

I guess this ending feels weird because it isn't really ending at all, it continues in Tokyo Ghoul:re. ... Just too much happened in length of one volume compared to usual pace.

The jokers reveal seemed a little out of place, it was never really hinted. Do they work with Aogiri?
At least Aogiri motive became clear, since Eto is their leader she wants to do something about the whole Ghoul/Human conflict.
Did Kaneki eat Hide in the sewers? Because he met him as injured and next he goes to Amari with taste of blood in his mouth. Really shocking.

9/10

Takumi Fujiwara is a son of Tofu shop owner/a talanted street racer and without realizing gets to learn driving in depth because of careful regimen set by his father during his daily tofu delivery runs.
Soon Takumi ends up racing local street racers and the series is essentially the journey of him realizing his life goals and becoming a better racer.

The series isn't perfect because at times it doesn't go deep into characters or sometimes forcing the plot. (You know, bit of luck on main character's side)
But overall it never lacks in pleasing the reader and in it's own way I really like it.

I didn't ... knew much about JDM cars but the manga really got me interested in cars overall. Races are done really well and often the 'out-of-the-box solution' really blows you away.
Build up for some races is done really really well. Side characters and the humour would be another strength of the series.
Also, reading this while listening to eurobeats is just whole another experience.

I just like this whole journey of Tak being highschool chatting with (or rather just listening to) Iggy/Itsuku to the ending with having figured out life so much.
Just a good growing up manga!
Going to miss these guys!