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And so we come to the 5th episode as well as the second highest rated on on MAL .The End Of The Golden Witch is truly an excellent part of the Umineko series ...

Story - 9

In complete ,utter and absolute subjectivity I'll like to declare that this episode is one of the most outstanding examples of plot progression in this series .

Well ,I say subjectivity but I like to think that most people who read this agree .The MAL score is the second highest in the series after all.

In 28 chapters I was exposed to a combination of epic moments ,insane plot twists ,exposition on ... the true nature of the mystery and power-ups that leave other shounen bowing their heads in shame .

Oh my goodness .That was pretty damn amazing .

Problems ?Sorry there aren't any of those here .Look somewhere else .

Art - 7

Not a 9 this time around sadly .Much of the drawing was scratchy and not as neat as in the other episodes .It did however ,have its moments of glory .I suppose with the most brilliant troll gone there wasn't much motivation for Suzuki Jirou to draw excellently .

Characters - 9

Battler was especially excellent in this epsiode .Well he's always excellent but this time he really out did himself .Natsuhi was very nice to read about as well and in this game people truly tasted the terror known as Troll-kanstel .

Everyone was full of life in this episode .

Well ,writing an ode all over again for the characters when they're pretty much the same as in the other games (apart from a few more minor additions which weren't really noteworthy) is unnecessary so I'll skip it for this review .

Overall - 9
Excellent .Superb .What a wonderful episode .

"UHYAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'LL BE KILLED!!? EVEN IF I CAN'T WIN AT LEAST I CAN PESTER YOU ENOUGH SO THAT I DON'T JUST HAND YOU THE VICTORY YOU KNOOOOOW!? TRY TO KILL ME, JUST YOU TRY TO KILL MEEE, USHIROMIYA BATTLEEEEER!!!!!!!!"

Okay to be honest I only put that quote because the review on top of mine has one and I didn't want to feel left out .

I've finished this and I'm feeling slightly disappointed .It's not like I had any serious problems with it .In fact it did its job pretty well as an expo for Ange but as a whole it felt pretty powered-down compared to ... the prior episodes .To be honest rating it a 7 and not 8 nags at me but I suppose for fairness' sake I must as other episodes had less disturbances/reasons for me to rate them lower .

Story - 7.999999999999999999999999999999999999999∞

So the story didn't bore me at all .It was actually pretty nice .Philosophical discussions as to the true nature of "truth" as well as the proper entrance (as it's already been hinted at before) of one of the series' most powerful themes ,namely :That if there's no love you can't see anything .I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect and it was a very thought provoking moment for me .Ange's past is also expounded upon and we see how much see suffered due to her family's stigmatization after the Rokkenjima incident .I had some issues with the story at that point too but I'll save those for when I judge the characters .

So why did I drop the score for the story a rank when compared to my other Umineko reviews ?

Well that's because I had a bit of an issue with the mystery aspect .This episode is probably the most fitting to bear this series' 'shounen' tag .Not that I have a problem with shounen but I honestly don't read Umineko to see furniture fighting against each other .There are better action series and I felt like things were side-tracked from the mystery .The arrangement of the storytelling also ticked me off .Starting from the gameboard ,moving on to Ange's POV in the real world and then moving back to the game board as the episode neared its end .Now the issue with this is simply that in the other episodes ,Twilight occurrences and mystery cracking go hand in hand while in this case however ,they were delayed until the end which had me forgetting many of the details of the murders .Many of Battler's counters also felt quite sloppy and unsatisfying .

Even with all that the only reason I'll rate the story a 7 is because it isn't as powerful as in the other episodes .It deserves an 8 in its own right when compared to other manga .

Art - 7
The art here is also an aspect I ranked lower than in the other episodes .Now I didn't have a problem with it at all .Character design quality didn't drop and in fact I can say it improved .

BUT......

The truly outstanding aspect of Umineko's art lies in its panel arrangement and over-the-top trolling expressions .In an episode with much of the focus being on Ange's experiences in the real world however ,that brilliance is mostly lost .The double page drawings that leave you wanting to soak in every detail weren't very apparent here .

Characters - 7
Ah yes .The characters .

Ange's victimization ticked me off .I felt like it was quite unrealistic since bullying over reasons mentioned in the story is not something I'm familiar with .Then again I might be misinformed .A lot of my treasured over-the-topness was lost as well .Of course these aren't negatives but simply lack of positives .

The Ushiromiya Family really is made up of badasses .

My my ,George-kun was spectacular this time around .Jessica impressed me too .If you're a George/Jessica fan then this chapter is for you .

Overall - 7
Still enjoyable and I'll be triggered if anyone badmouths this .Not as powered up as the other episodes but still carrying a gentle theme that I'll probably hold on to for the rest of my life .

Banquet Of The Golden Witch .

The 3rd installment of the Umineko series and an episode which is more enjoyable than the previous ones in many ways .

Story - 8

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ??????????????????????????


That's probably what a completely new reader to this would ask on more than one occasion .Which is pretty understandable .Weird "furniture" being summoned with absolutely no explanations .No answers to the matter of what exactly "witches" are and no proper bearing of the situation as a whole being given by the author .
...
It is fucking lovely .

Okay so I might seem pretty biased since I've already finished it (the entire series) but I'm really not .Umineko is a weird story you see so when ,as a person who's finished it , read through and see the "extremely" subtle foreshadowing and clues I can't help but smile to myself as I read .The weirdness is not a bad thing though .Stuff like that gets revealed later so if you judge this chapter individually then you're being unfair .Umineko has to be seen as a collective series even though it's broken into parts .

My lord the plot twists in this are amazing .

So wonderful and so unexpected .If I want to teach someone how to troll I'd tell them to go read Umineko .The approach to solving mysteries is very intriguing as well .Various concepts like "Hempel's Raven" and "The Devil's Proof" being applied to the point of abuse (which isn't a bad thing at all) .

If I were to have a problem with it it would be that the story is sort of hard to follow a times .There's a point near the middle where an explanation of the epitaph (you should be well acquainted with this by now) seems to be slightly hard to follow even as a rereader .I understood what was being said but it didn't seem to stick .As though understanding one part of the dialogue would mean that to understand the next one you'd lose the current understanding you have .

Slightly hard to understand what I'm saying isn't it ?Well ,reading it would give you a better idea .It's hard to put into words .

But it was okay and it was only for a few moments so I'll let it off for that .

Art - 9

I've read other reviews on this series and to be honest I'm amazed when I see people rating Umineko's art so far a 6 or 7 I mean....

Is there any other manga that does panel arrangement as well as Umineko ?
NO .

Is there any manga that does troll expressions as well as Umineko ?
NO .

Is there any manga that can do shocking page transitions as well as Umineko ?
NO .

NO .No to all of those questions .The art itself even without all that is pretty damn decent .Too decent .How do you not clap for it ?It perfectly represents the emotions so well this thing should deserve an award ...

Okay so let's talk about the bad stuff about the art .Sometimes it feels a bit over the top with it's expressions .Some panels (few if I might add) also seem to have less work put in them than others .There's also.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Nope there isn't anything else .That's pretty much it .There aren't any other problems with the art .You all should be bowing down to the paperback that you bought or your computer screen .

Character - 8

We have some cool moments for Kyrie and Rudolf who were killed off too early for any character expansion in the previous episodes .A bit of Kyrie's past is expanded upon as well .I must say that the Ushiromiya family has some badass members .

The main focus of this episode though ,is Eva Ushiromiya ,eldest daughter of the family .She does her part quite well (especially at the end when she trolls someone) .Her background and reason's for disliking Klauss are all shown in this episode .

"It's useless .It's all useless"

Why is it that I find myself smiling whenever Battler says this line ?When you add this kind of powerful quote with an awesome panel/page transition and amazing art then you'll know that some shit is going down for real .

Beatrice is as wonderful a troll as ever and we get a small glimpse of her true nature at the end (after one of her glorious moments though) .She takes an odd ,refreshing turn in character during the middle of the episode as well .

Enjoyment - 8
Well this is pretty funny .

I rated this an 8 before writing this review but now that I'm done writing so much cool stuff I have this urge to go back and rate it a 9 instead .Only the knowledge of the glory that is Episode 5 can hold me back .

Also this review is spoiler free so don't worry about anything that seems like a spoiler .It isn't .

Now that you've spent three minutes of your life reading my ode to Umineko if you don't upvote this review and immediately add it to your PTW I'll get mad......

WOW .

No really wow .So this is actually given a 7.9 rating on this site .Pretty amazing if you ask me but I guess that's just other people's taste being different from mine .I don't think this was terrible but I think that it was a serious waste of potential .Mostly because it was so short .

Plot - 6
Not a very common story but not very interesting despite that .I think to many this will come off as a manga that just tries to be (yes I'm using the dreaded buzzword) "edgy" .Nothing is really good about it apart from its uniqueness .I feel like ... this was something that I could like a lot really .Too bad it suffered from bad pacing and poor/insufficient explanations .It all felt so.......uninteresting .Not to mention that deaths in it didn't make me feel the slightest bit of loss .The ending could have been pretty good but it was ruined at the last moment .The meaning behind the story (that there is an unbelievable amount of pain in the world) is also something I couldn't relate to and so found a bit stupid .

Art - 6
The art wasn't anything special either so it would normally get a 5 .I suppose the expressions were a little good sometimes so I can give it a 6 .If the art was better I think I would have liked the manga more too .Nothing special here so I'm moving on .

Characters - 4
Yeah these were pretty bad .Not that they were generic but when you try depicting characters that need a few good episodes of development and then you handle that all in one or two chapters then you can tell that it'll be pretty bad .

Enjoyment - 6
My review is scanty mostly because there really isn't much to say about this .It simply wasn't good but wasn't terrible either .I probably should have spent time reading Absolute Duo rather than this but I don't exactly regret reading it .

Do you like manly men ?
Do you like manly quotes ?
Do you like manly tears ?
Do you like manly deaths ?

Well you're in luck because this manga is the manliest one around (yes I've read Berserk) .It's the epitome of manliness .The 'man' in 'manga' has never been so fitting .

Plot - 8
Well I obviously wasn't reading this for fan service so I can say that the story was pretty good .There's a difference between this and Berserk though .This story as a whole isn't as good because the story telling isn't as smooth .There are some cases of the notorious Deus Ex Machina ... moments which come up in this manga .Obviously the MCs abilities can cover many areas in an understandable fashion but when you somehow have the ability to make someone tell the truth in one chapter but for the rest of the manga that power isn't called upon again the reader might feel slightly put-off .The last parts of it also felt a bit dragged out and unnecessary .The first part of it however was extremely...........manly .

Art - 8
This art is sort of weird for me to judge .Sometimes its downright awesome but some other times (especially in the some fight scenes) it felt sort of lacking .The characters' martial arts also felt a bit bland to watch (head splitting aside) .I liked the art a lot but I'll cut down a mark since it's a bit inconsistent .The drawings of horses and machines are especially glorious if you ask me .The characters' design are also very...err........manly .

Characters - 6
Ah yes ,this is the weakest point .No I didn't dislike them at all .It's just that some of them were so (and I hate to use the term) one-dimensional .Some villains were practically just badly written .Backstories for some of them also pop up out of nowhere sometimes as though it's just a convenient plot device .I feel like they could have been handled better to be honest .I also didn't really feel anything when some of them died apart from a loss of some.........manliness

Enjoyment - 8.6
Not quite at Berserk's level if you ask me but great nonetheless .I can't give it a 9 on my list but I can say that it's a pretty strong 8 .More people should read this because it's pretty damn good .Manly deaths ,lines and characters were a great plus if you ask me and I could mostly ignore the things I didn't like because each time I was about to feel like it was dropping in quality Kenshiro just had to say "Omae wa mou shindeiru" .

I ,quite frankly ,love the Umineko series .I haven't read the VN or watched the anime but I can say that this manga is a great piece of work when looking at how the story pans out .This is a review done after my second read of Episode 2 .I'm going to try and criticize it as much as I can.

Story - 8
Strictly speaking ,rating the story of Umineko's episodes individually might be a bit tricky considering that they are all part of one major sequence of events .So by seeing this as a sequel and an episode prior to episodes 3 through 8 I ... can say that it does its job quite well .Umineko is not a generic story .It's extremely far from it .A battle between fantasy and reality .I'd like to give it a 9 but considering that I already know of the episodes to come I'll satisfy myself with an 8 this time around .

Art - 8
Another aspect I'd like to give a 9 would be the art .It's taken a step up from the first episode .If not for the fact that it gets even better later on I'd rate it higher .The characters' expressions are brilliant and unique when compared to many manga out there .Mocking expresions ,angry expressions ,panicked expressions ,Suzuki Jirou has done a very good job here .Some scenes are good enough for me to actually want as a wallpaper ,not to mention that the way Jirou shifts scenes in this work sometimes has me left in amazement .

Characters - 8
The insane and paranoid Umineko cast is here once again .This time with Rosa as its focus .I have no problems here and I like the interactions quite a lot sometimes .Especially when Battler and Rosa had an argument at a point in this episode (It's unrelated to this section but the art in this scene was amazing) .The villain (Beatrice) is not a cringe-worthy antagonist and I can proudly say that she was a pleasure to watch .

Enjoyment - 8
A wonderful episode for a wonderful series .I'm quite amazed as to why Umineko isn't spoken of a lot here on MAL .Though the anime has a notorious reputation I have to say that the manga is an amazing experience to read through .I hope that you continue with this series through to the end .

Sangatsu No Lion is a good manga that is less talked about than many others that it is superior to .

Perhaps it's because of its synopsis which fails at being eye-catching .In any case this is not bad or boring provided you don't dislike slice of life .

On to the review then .

Story - 7
Being slice of life in its purest form ,Sangatsu No Lion doesn't exactly have what you can call a major plot line .This is just the story of a high school shogi pro with family issues .Like a biography ,you cannot exactly pick a point that represents the story even if ... it's the ending .That doesn't mean the content is poor or scanty however as his life and troubles are portrayed in a realistic and interesting manner .The score for this aspect of the manga could be seen as higher by some though I think 7 is the lowest possible score it should be given since it isn't plot driven .Calling it a 9 would not be something I say is incomprehensible though .

Art - 7
Another difficult part to judge .The art might be seen by some as rough and not very neat while others might see it as good for the story's presentation .Sangatsu No Lion's drawings are not terrible though calling them excellent seems to be a stretch .In any case this is one of those things you have to see for yourself to judge and as it depends on your preferences I cannot but give it a score of 7 in relation to other manga .

Character - 8
This is the manga's strong point .Being a drama SoL it depicts it's characters realistically .No plainly drab or boring characters to spoil the appeal of the series ,no ridiculously unbelievable characters to ruin it either .It does what it does well and that is enough .The MC especially is well fleshed out and can be understood .Some characters might be seen as slightly unrealistic by some but I don't think it affects the quality if this work .

Enjoyment - 8
In terms of enjoyment I'd give this an 8 .It's a good read especially if you enjoy slice of life .To be honest this kind of manga isn't what I usually read and so I'm quite impressed by it .Don't worry about the synopsis and read it .

Overall - 8
The above ratings might put you off but I think this is a manga that can essentially be seen as greater than the sum of its parts .Drama/SoL lovers should like this especially .

Dr Frost is ....... a pretty interesting webtoon .

Unlike many other psychological manga/anime which deal with the MC and his pals trying to outwit their adversaries with genius tactics and batman gambits Dr Frost is different in the sense that it 'actually' deals with psychology .This is a story about a psychologist and his cases .

Story - 9
This webtoon(I'll shorten this to WB) is told in the format of arcs i.e each case usually takes around 4 - 8(some times 10 ) chapters .Minor additions to the overall plot occur at the end of each arc so worrying about stasis is unnecessary .Actual psychological ... terms are used as this WB is made in partnership with the psychological department of a certain Korean university .In terms of how interesting it is I think this deserves credit after all it's likely that as long as you enjoy the first few chapters you should enjoy the remainder .Plot twists in cases also occur .

Art - 9
I won't waste time on this .It's colored and neat so stop hesitating/worrying .

Character - 6
This is a bit tricky .The characters aren't bad but they're nothing special either unless you count Frost( I don't want to spoil this for you ) .The patients obviously have issues but they aren't what I'd call 'lovable' .Character development occurs if you are bothered by the lack of it so no need to worry though it is slight (for reasons well put out by the story) .

Enjoyment - 8
A solid good read if you ask me .Not a masterpiece or mediocre but reasonably higher than the in-between point .If my review has interested you even a little bit then I don't think you'll regret reading this .Psychology became a whole lot more interesting for me after and I got a copy of 'Psychology For Dummies' .



Overall - 8
I don't think anyone should dislike this series if they gave it a proper chance unless they really have something against psychology .

Skip this review .

If you still want to read go on but you're just wasting time .Just open it on a manga website and read .


Sakuranbo Syndrome is one of the overlooked gems as far as manga is concerned .Why such a good story isn't more popular is a mystery to me .Perhaps because of the synopsis which gives off the impression of another generic harem manga this diamond is avoided .On to the review then .

Story - 8
This manga's story is it's selling point .
You might feel that the synopsis is weak and nothing new but the execution of this manga's story is amazing ... .With many emotional moments it truly doesn't bore you and developments a times are shocking .This is a manga that made the most out of it's story with no cliche events or unnecessary ones .Even the rare filler chapters are used in developing the story further .Expect a unique story that you've not seen before and you won't be disappointed .But the story might also be why this manga isn't so highly rated .The ending for me was extremely disappointing and left me cringing at its poor execution .I hope this doesn't dissuade you from trying it however .

Art - 9
This manga has sex scenes .Well they're obviously not at hentai's level but they're borderline and well drawn to boot .This is as good as slice of life manga gets when it's drawn .There are no unclear emotions ,unbelievably androgynous characters or any other imperfections of the like so the art is one are you know you won't hate even if the manga somehow doesn't sit with you .

Character - 7
The weakest point of the story isn't weak .The cast is fairly normal with no unrealistic features .Character development indeed takes place for those who want to see it so do not worry .If I had a problem it would be that their reactions a times seem a bit forced .Not that they aren't realistic but reacting a different way might have been more so .Still the cast does it's job well .Very realistic for slice of life ,very likable ,very interesting .

Enjoyment - 9
At a point I had only 5 volumes of this .After reading them in a sitting I panicked because my internet wouldn't allow me to get the remainder .It was on my mind all day and I couldn't calm down until I got them .

Overall - 8
I liked this enough to give it a 9 but I think 8 is a better score considering how badly it ended for me.Bringing in statistics in my reviews is a habit of mine and so I can say that on MAL ,as at the time of this review 68.4% of the readers of this gave it a between an 8 and a 10 .Hope I've convinced you to read it .

Epic .

That's ID in a word .This manwha is painfully overlooked .So painfully that it makes me want to cry .MAL gives this a rating of around 8.31 (as of the time this review is being made ) and I have to say it's not worth a single point less .Heck ,it might even be underrated .Well ,lets get on to the actual review .

Story - 8
You've got to give ID credit for this .The plot is one I think everyone should find interesting and at the very least ,not boring as long as they aren't being forced into reading it .With very few filler ... chapters to sap your flow ,I think that story-wise ,it's not the best but nevertheless provides an interesting concept that is followed throughout the manwha .I have to admit that at first ,after seeing the summary and looking at the first few pages of both the first and second chapters ,I wasn't impressed and so dropped it for a while .This might be the case for many other readers as well .Do NOT stop however !!They say not to judge a book by it's cover ,and this is an excellent example of that .

Art - 9
This ,I think ,is ID's greatest asset .At first (perhaps due to the version I read's quality )I had it marked out as having mediocre artwork .That's what I thought until I had gone through about a score of chapters .The battle scenes especially are very well done with a large amount of detail .The character's emotions are very easily portrayed due to the effort put in their facial expressions .Art is this series strongest point and it gives any reader a hell of a time as they flip or click their way through pages .

Character - 6
If ID is said to have a weak point I would say it lies in it's characters .Do not misunderstand however .That only means the characters aren't as good as the rest of the story's aspects .While ID doesn't focus as much on character interactions the way anime like Bakemonogatari does ,it's characters certainly aren't sub-par or even mediocre so do not feel discouraged .Many people dislike overpowered characters and so might be put off at first due to his seemingly unbeatable power ,but the MC is not overpowered considering there are people that can defeat him .In short ,ID can be said to have reasonably good character interactions and character designs at the very least .

Enjoyment - 9
This manwha was definitely not a waste of time .Keeping you in suspense as to where the plot would lead as well as being extremely well-drawn .I can proudly say that ID is a must-read for battle manga lovers .Even those who generally find action manga to be weak should enjoy this due to it's splendid artwork .


Overall - 9
And so my review ends .I highly recommend ID to manhwa-lovers as well as those who limit themselves to manga and anime .This heavily overlooked work should definitely be enjoyable .If that doesn't assure you check the statistics of this manhwa .

Hers's a quick survey for you (Based on date of the review) Of those who have read it ,49.4% have given it a 9 or a 10 .When including those who rate it an 8 ,the number rises to 75.9% .The numbers speak for themselves .