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Aug 15, 2011
I was unsure if I would ever find another manga good enough to deserve my reviewing. And after reading volume six of Shingeki no Kyojin I can safely say the wait is over. What a manga!
STORY: 9/10
Throughout the history of action manga there have been hordes of fantastically evil creatures ganging up on any shounen hero that dares get in their way. Whether it be demons, hollows, or demons again one thing was always certain: Even though the characters appeared scared you knew everything would be okay. A main character can't die to one random monster out of the horde. They deserve noble deaths via
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human vs human fights.
Shingeki no Kyojin abandons decades of stereotypes and does it in remarkable fashion. Never have I been so afraid, so physically frightened by "just another mob of pure evil monsters". In Shingeki the monster of choice happens to be giants. They don't have any special powers and in fact they aren't particularly massive considering they're giants. They walk, run, and even crawl around on the ground with blank, sometimes even silly faces and do nothing but eat and mangle every human in sight. This is something the mangaka has perfected despite the fact that this is the first manga he's ever written. Every single time a giant appears on the page your heart will start racing and your palms will become sweaty. Where do they come from and why do they devour humans despite having no anatomical need for it?
These are all questions the mangaka presents early and skillfully hasn't answered yet. He's also created an incredibly thought-out world with paragraphs at the end of most chapters explaining things that would bore readers if squeezed into speech bubbles. Including, but not limited to: three-dimensional flying gear, anatomy of a giant, construction of the cities three walls, battle formations, and a type of strange retractable sword. The world feels rich and thought-out and will almost certainly suck in anyone who gives Shingeki no Kyojin a chance.
ART: 8/10
I'm going to be perfectly honest and say that the artwork in the first two volumes is as close to shit as it gets. Actions aren't drawn very well, details aren't drawn very well, and its clear the mangaka had trouble drawing body proportions. But when volume three started it was almost like a switch was flipped and the art wasn't nearly as bad anymore. In fact, after having just finished the sixth volume, its among some of the better art I've seen in a manga. Characters are drawn very different from one another and have a crisp yet visibly sketchy feel to them. And the Giants! They slide around with their giant heads, oddly proportioned bodies, and silly facial expressions just creeping the shit out of me. The mangaka is very talented at drawing characters experiencing the scariest moment of their entire lives. What a bonus the art became in volume three, adding fear on top of fear to make one of the most chilling manga experiences even more so.
CHARACTER: 9/10
Everybody is somebody. "What's the point of writing about a character with no personality or back story?" - Is what I imagine the mangaka asks himself before deciding to throw a new character into the mix. You'll find no blank-faced bad asses in this manga. You also won't find too many people with happy child-hoods either. Even though this is listed as a shounen it deals with very dark themes more suited for a seinen. Characters are often showed rattled and sometimes mentally scared from seeing their comrades get their heads bitten off in front of them. Either way, there is plenty of page time devoted to understanding characters and their roots.
ENJOYMENT: 10/10
The depth of the world is immense.
The art is very good (eventually).
Characters are deep.
The suspense is great.
The giants are TERRIFYING!
It's rare to find a manga that does so many different things so well. Whenever a new volume comes out I always know I'm in for another great experience I can't get anywhere else.
OVERALL: 9/10
I can't give a perfect score to a manga with so few chapters so early in it's life span. But trust me; if the same amount of enjoyment I've experience in the first six volumes continues throughout the rest of the series it would be a 10 no doubt.
You've gotta give this manga a shot. It's doing things that haven't really been done before, or at least not to this level. I'm setting the standard right now: You can't call yourself a fan of manga without reading Shingeki no Kyojin. Now get reading!
*This review made possible by AironicallyHuman, who recommended this manga to me
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 13, 2010
If you like Berserk then you may find this review offensive. Read at your own risk.
STORY: 6/10
Berserk starts off very poorly. A man with a ten foot sword and a robot arm kills a bunch of people and some gross looking monsters. Now I like gore just as much as the next guy, but there needs to be SOME sort of story or reasoning behind it. It seemed like the main character, Guts, just walked around and killed ugly things for the first few volumes just because he liked being covered in blood.
But then the golden age arc started...This my friends, is one of the
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greatest arcs in manga history. It almost feels like the mangaka walked away from his desk and let God himself write this part of the story. The characters become deep, the disgusting fights gain meaning, and basically everything is executed to perfection. Then, after about a hundred chapters, it ends. God gives the pen back to the original mangaka and he proceeds to make Guts kill billions of ugly snake penis monsters for the next few hundred chapters. 25% of this manga is pure gold. The other 75% is utter shit.
ART: 10/10
Berserk's strongest point, aside from the golden age arc, has to be its art work. I believe I mentioned disgusting monsters a few times in the first paragraph and trust me - they are DISGUSTING. They've got rows of razor sharp teeth, they're covered in dirty fur, they're oozing with slime, they're drooling, and they all have snakes for penises. The amount of detail put into these beasts can make you hurl...but in a good way. This manga provides a few debatable subjects, but its artwork isn't one of them. It is nothing less than perfect.
CHARACTER: 7/10
The rivalry between Guts and Griffith is legendary. During the golden age arc both characters are given ample development time in order for the reader to truly feel for these guys. In fact, most of the characters from the golden age arc are given enough face time for people to get attached to them. Unfortunately, all the non-golden age arc parts of the manga have minimal development for the male characters aside from Guts, and most of the female characters are rape-bait. The golden age arc was so good though, that I'm going to give characters a higher score than it truly deserves. Seriously, most of this manga is bad.
ENJOYMENT: 3/10
Just so we're clear, golden age arc enjoyment = 10. The rest of Berserk is literally the same thing over and over again just with different ugly monsters. Here is a brief rundown of every chapter of Berserk:
Guts walks into a city.
Mutant panda bears are raping 900 women with their snake penises.
Guts kills the panda bears with his man-sized sword.
Everything is depressing.
End.
OVERALL: 6/10
Drop it after the golden age arc. It doesn't just go downhill after that. It falls off a cliff and lands in a pile of dog shit barf...with snake penises.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 13, 2010
First of all the length of this manga is misleading. I would say the length of an average manga volume is about 200 pages. Akira's manga volumes are around 400 pages so don't think you'll be able to rush through this thing. It will take time.
STORY: 8/10
The main plot is focused on stopping the newly escaped, child-psychic, named "Akira" from destroying Japan and the rest of the world. For the most part we follow a motor cycle gang member named Kaneda who somehow gets sucked into this government psychic conspiracy. Kaneda doesn't really care so much about Akira as he does about his bff Tetsuo
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who recently transformed into a Psychic and started acting all dickish. So Kaneda teams up with the female lead, Kei, in hopes to kill Tetsuo (the super powerfull psychic) with his bare hands. Meanwhile Tetsuo creates an ally out of Akira and they half-way team up because they're supposedly on the same psychic "frequency".
The story is not your linear adventure tale, but I wouldn't call it anything really special. You have your best-friend-turned-enemy and save the world plot all in the very first volume. At times this is executed brilliantly and will leave you either cheering for Kaneda to get revenge or for Tetsou to destroy more crap with his awesomely entertaining powers. Then we get to volume 3, which is hellish at best. It reminded me of a Scooby-Doo Chase scene where everyone just keeps running in and out of doors accomplishing nothing. It's a huge weak point in the mostly spotless story line. Considering that volume 3 is 1/6 of this entire manga I can't rate story any higher.
ART: 8/10
This is an 80s manga and you'll be able to tell at first glance. The characters have that 80s look to them and don't particularly stand out art-wise. Although I'm not complaining since the backgrounds more then make up for what the character designs lack. There are absolutely stunning two page layouts all throughout Akira. The background art work delivers on a level that isn't seen in most manga today. Now back to the character designs for a second. I had a hard time distinguishing Kaneda from Kei since they have nearly identical hair-cuts and facial structures. That definitely brings the overall art score down a bit.
CHARACTER: 8/10
I like the damsel in distress character just as much as the next guy, but its refreshing to see a female lead who isn't a whiny little pussy. Kei is both mentally and physically as strong, if not stronger, then any other character in the manga. Kudos to the mangaka for trying something different. Then you have Kaneda who is the typical hot-headed hero. I was trying to make a few comparisons throughout the manga between him and Naruto without much success until he started walking out of a room then stopped. He turned around and gave Kei a big smile and a thumbs up. Then uttered these exact words: "Believe it!". If that doesn't explain Kaneda's character then I don't know what will.
ENJOYMENT: 6/10
I rate enjoyment rather low because there were a lot of dead spots in the manga where I just wanted the meaningless side stories to end so I could focus on the main plot. This manga could have easily shed a couple 100 pages and not lost a thing. Also the psychic powers were a bit inconsistent which had me confused for a good while. For example Tetsou is shown to have the ability to teleport, explode things with his mind, fly through space, deflect bullets, and just overall do anything he wants with his powers. Then in one part, while at full strength, he starts getting beaten up by Kaneda who has no powers what-so-ever. He just gets his ass kicked for some unexplained reason. At first they say he's powered down, but then literally 1 second after he gets punched in the face he teleports into space and destroys an air craft carrier. I was left scratching my head wondering what the hell just happened. There were too many power inconsistencies and boring side plots for me to enjoy this manga any more then I did.
OVERALL: 7/10
There were times when I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what happens next, but there were also times when I just wanted to skip 20 pages ahead so I could read something half-way interesting for a change. It also didn't help that the ending was well...open ended. Lots of questions went unanswered and the fate of a few important characters is never touched on. There was also a bit at the beginning where Kei's partner is described as her "sort-of brother", but there relationship goes unexplained for the rest of the series. There are a lot of little problems in Akira that build up throughout the manga. I set the standards high for this one considering its rank on MAL. It also didn't help that at the end of each volume there was a blurb about how much of a masterpiece Akira is. So is this a masterpiece? Maybe it was in the 80s, but to todays standards its nothing more than a slightly above average story manga with a lot of hype.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 19, 2010
"Wouldn't it be awful if all dreams came true? If all 15,000 eggs that came from one crab hatched. Wouldn't that be awful? The world would be full of crabs!". This is Himizu. The darkest, most depressing comedic manga there ever was, and probably ever will be.
STORY: 9/10
The story is brilliantly simple. We follow Sumida, a 3rd year middle schooler, who's only goal in life is to be as normal as possible. That's easier said than done. Sumida is constantly put into situations that are anything but normal. And how he reacts to these situations makes Himizu one of the best manga I've ever read.
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Sumida's thought process is as hilarious as it is depressing as it is interesting. Not to mention the other characters' unique ways of thinking. For in Himizu the characters steal the show. You won't so much care what's going on as long as you know what the characters are thinking while its happening.
ART: 9/10
The art matches the manga perfectly. The characters have small (Japanese looking) eyes, defined noses, and large lips perfect for making exaggerated expressions. It isn't uncommon for a character's mouth to grow three times it's normal size if he's trying to prove a point. But don't let that fool you. The art is about as well drawn as it gets. And while the backgrounds are far from ugly, just like the story, the characters are the focal point of the art. Each character is drawn uniquely, and it may just be my personal opinion but each character is drawn ugly as well. No characters in this manga even faintly resemble anything bishonen. They are ugly, just like the humanity they are portraying.
CHARACTER: 10/10
Ah, the legendary characters of Himizu. Each character adds another depressing thought (or several) to the collective data bank of negativity which is Himizu. We have Sumida, the speaker of that oh so joyful quote at the beginning of this review. Then there's the aspiring mangaka who is the recipient of that oh so joyful quote. Sumida's best friend, Shozo, who wants nothing else in life but suffocating amounts of money. Each one is beautifully unique in personality, and not just the shounen way (All characters have ONE quirk. They're individuals!), but in a real way. They disagree, argue, beat each other up, etc. They're humans. Dark humans, yes, but humans none the less.
ENJOYMENT: 9/10
I read those two volumes like lightning, and it left me wanting more. Why haven't I read the last two volumes you ask? Because it hasn't been released in America, and the scanlation group dropped the project. It makes me furious! But anger aside, this is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in psychological manga. I'm leaning towards a 10, but without the second half of this manga I don't want to jump to conclusions. So right now I'll give enjoyment a 9.
OVERALL: 9/10
Whenever a scanlation group starts scanning Himizu again I'll read it in a second, and update the overall score. But right now I'll give this a 9. People seriously need to read this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 13, 2010
Until Death Do Us Part = not crappy Shoujo. Who woulda thunk?
STORY: 5/10
Basically a middle school girl who can sort of predict the future "hires" a swordsman who can sort of see to protect her from bad guys. The guy who can sort of see's name is Mamoru. He's technically blind, but he has super speical high tech sun glasses which let him see the world in an extremely basic state. They react with the vibrations from his cane sword to send an image directly into his head. Also they let him dodge bullets...yea. This is one of "those" manga. There is also a lot
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of technilogical mumbo jumbo in this manga. Basically all the weapons and fighting are deeply technological from Mamoru's super special awesome molecule cutting sword, to assassin kill-bots. This is a sci-fi manga through and through. The actual plot is sort of...blah. A bad guy targets the school girl/ Mamoru himself, Mamoru beats him, etc, etc. Seen it a thousand times.
ART: 9/10
I actually like the art quite a bit. Every character has a unique (and cool) look and I haven't mixed up any of them yet. The backgrounds and scenery are all very well drawn, and there is almost a manwha feel to this manga. As in the females have nicely sized breasts, all the males are drawn maturely and all the lines are very clean. It's nice to look at, and can really get you into the story at times.
CHARACTER: 6/10
Well we have the school girl, Mamoru, and his white gangster friend who's a techno genius. Techno genius hasn't show too much personality as of chapter 45, mostly saying that he doesn't want anyone do die *yawn* he's pretty boring. Then the school girl is just a little girl, and her role is fairly small. Mamoru is the real main character in charge of all the fighting and "badassery". But I use that term very lightly. There is so much effort put into making Mamoru look like a badass its actually laughable at times. From his sunglasses, to his leather jacket, to his little phrases, it almost seems like he's a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger. If only for the joy I have making fun of Mamoru's over-badassery 'character' get a 6.
ENJOYMENT: 5/10
When I tried taking this manga seriously I ended up hating it. But when I just sat back and made fun of it quietly to myself I ended up having a pretty good time. If I was to grade "Until Death Do Us Part" seriously, how its intended to be read, then I would maybe give a 5. BUT, when I treat it as a parody I can sometimes get level 7 giggles. That's only sometimes though. Most of the time its barely entertaining enough to keep me moving on to the next chapter.
OVERALL: 5/10
If I read this as a parody its not terrible, but its not a parody. It's a mediocre seinen with one dimensional characters that tries too hard. And for that, Until Death Do Us Part gets a 5.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 13, 2009
I read all 10 volumes of Dragon Head in the span of one week. And I would have completed it even sooner if it wasn't for Christmas and finals. Interesting right? Now onto the review.
STORY: 8/10
If I had to sum it up in one word I would say "Thrilling". It's palm sweating, mind numbing, edge-of-your-seat excitement. Teru (the main character) finds himself trapped in a dark tunnel along with all his dead classmates. Dazed and confused, he lives on. Why is it so hot in the tunnel? Whats with all the earthquakes? Why have people gone crazy? Teru is faced with all of these questions
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and more as he slowly begins to realize what has become of the peaceful world he once knew. The world has become hellish for reasons unknown to everyone, including yourself. The mangaka doesn't hold your hand and spoon feed you answers. You have to piece together the information along side Teru.
The story is nearly perfect except for a couple of chapters leading up to the finale. It tries a bit too hard to be emotionally deep, and you get a ridiculously long speech about fear. If that tiny boring part didn't happen I would give the story a nine, but it did happen so the story gets an 8. And thats a darn good 8. Like 8.9 or something close like that.
I don't round.
ART: 10/10
OH MY GAWD. The deatil put into the backgrounds is almost too detailed. It's hard to descibe how vivid every thing is. From the subway system, to the ghost towns, to the trash-littered buildings, they all come together perfectly to create the apocalyptic world that is Dragon Head. For fear that the druel pouring from my mouth will short circuit my computer I will stop talking about the art. Simply amazing.
CHARACTER: 9/10
No shounen heroes here. Every character is constantly overwhelmed with fear. Sometimes they feed on that fear and are able to do miraculous things. They will somehow figure a way out of their situation and live to see another day. But more often than not they snap. Teru might stab somebody if he's too scared. Or maybe he'll set an inocent person's arm on fire. Ako will faint at the drop of a hat. Nobu hasn't un-snapped since the train crashed. One word to describe the characters? "Flawed".
ENJOYMENT: 9/10
If it hadn't been Christmas and if I didn't have finals I might have finished this in 1-2 days. I was hooked. I wanted to find out what became of the world along with Teru. I was on edge every page. It was seriously hard to put down from start to finish.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 16, 2009
I had to wait a few days after finishing Harukana Machi-E before I wrote this review. I just couldn't believe how much I liked this manga. If I had reviewed this manga immediately after I finished it I would have done nothing but rain 10s down upon it. Now that it's sunk in, nothing has changed.
STORY: 10/10
What would you do if you were a 48-year-old man who was visiting your mothers grave. You closed your eyes to pray, and when you opened them you were 14 year old again? But you arn't the only one to suddenly lose 34 years. The world does too. You've
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somehow gone back in time, but you have the conscience of a grown man. What would you do? Would you date the prettiest girl in school? Would you try and stop your father from leaving? What else would you do differently? These are the same questions Hiroshi asks himself as he begins to understand his situation. The story, without a doubt, is beautiful. It is only two volumes long, but thats all it needs. The story isn't weighed down by countless arcs and dozens of useless characters. It is perfect from the mundane first word to the shocking last.
ART: 10/10
The characters have noses and eyes proportional to their face. It's not your typical "everyone is bishonen" artwork. The backgrounds are extremely detailed to the point of being photographic. It's almost like you can feel the water dripping down his face as he stands in the rain and smell the salt when he stands at the beach watching the waves crash into the shore. The art truely grants the story life.
CHARACTER: 10/10
Since Harukana Machi-E is two volumes long there arn't many characters. And each one adds something to the story. Weather it's the loving father who mysteriously left Hiroshi's family the first time around without giving a reason. Or Hiroshi's shy friend who wants to someday become a writer. Or Hiroshi, who is so caught up with being 14 again, he almost doesn't want to go back. They're all perfectly crafted to be as realistic and as enjoyable to watch as possible.
ENJOYMENT: 10/10
I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Would the prettiest girl in school fall in love with him? Could he somehow get his father to stay this time around? Is he ever going to return to the future? This manga is incrediblely hard to put down and it keeps you wanting more after every chapter.
OVERALL: 10/10
Pursue your dreams and love your family. A beautiful message for a perfect manga. I advise everyone, manga fans or not, to read this manga. You'll be glad you did. This manga deserves nothing less than a perfect 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 17, 2009
Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest, at least thats what onemanga calls it, is a manga about a werewolf named Akira. And that's a good enough introduction for me, so on to the review.
STORY: 8/10
Well, there are only 19 chapters out at the time of this review so theres not too much of a story right now. Although the little story there is seems to be good. Akira is in his last year of middle school and has just transfered into one of the most dangerous schools ever. Seriously. He walks into class on the first day, starts to write his name on the board, and
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before he's even finished he gets a knife thrown at him. Nice class, eh? So this is a fight manga where Akira gets beat up a ton, but he doesn't fight back because he feels humans are a waste of time. He just gets hit with iron pipes, bats, and fists, but he's basically invincible weather he's in werewolf form or not so he doesn't care.
When he has fought back it's pretty freaking cool and fun to watch. He hasn't revealed that he's a werewolf to anyone yet, so everyone is really confused as to why he can take a razor blade to the back and walk to school the next day unphased. Akira's teacher is suspicious of him so she is trying to figure out why Akira is the way that he is. I want to give the story a 9, but it's just too soon to be handing out scores that high for a story thats so premature.
ART: 8/10
This is a very dark manga and the drawings are just as dark. But sometimes the art can be too dark, and it's hard to tell what exactly is going on. Overall it is extemely well drawn, and the backgrounds and characters are all very uniquely drawn. Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest definetly has it's own style. The art can be beautiful at times and scary at others. It really is great except for one little aspect which appears in thousands of other manga. The "middle school kids" look like they are all adults. Akira looks older than his homeroom teacher. Since this manga is obviously for ages 17+ I don't see why the mangaka decided to make the characters 14-15. However it really doesn't take away from anything aside from a little realism so I can half-way forgive him.
CHARACTER: 8/10
Well, you've got Akira (werewolf), his sexy homeroom teacher Ms. Aoshika, and a bunch of school delinquents. Akira has a pretty mysterious past so you don't really know much about where he comes from, but his homeroom teacher has already gotten a nice amount of backstory. Even a couple of the random school delinquients have had some good backstory which is very unusual, but very much appreciated. You understand why they are so mad all of the time, and why they bully others. For 19 chapters there is a perfect amount of back-story. It's not all given in one random flashback chapter either. You get bits and pieces gradually, and it really builds the characters.
Also, Akira is one badass mofo.
ENJOYMENT: 10/10
As I was reading through the epic fight scenes, admiring the beautiful artwork and totally immersing myself into the Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest universe I was subconsciously thinking one thing: If only that hot homeroom teacher would get naked. I know its extremely pig-headed of me, but I wanted some nudity to go along with all the blood and cursing. Then BOOM! she was topless. Now, this manga was perfect. It had a badass main character, naked hot chicks, and werewolves. I dare anyone to come up with a more enjoyable combination of things than that.
OVERALL: 8/10
I already kinda summed up Wolf Guy in the Enjoyment part of this review so I'll make this short. Awesome. Yes. 8.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 25, 2009
Naruto is currently one of the most popular shounen beasts in the manga market today, and since I have verbally abused its companions I believe its Naruto's turn to be reviwed.
STORY: 6/10
I'm not going to pretend that anybody reading this review doesn't already know the basic story of Naruto so no summary this time. The length is a turn off. Some of the fights tend to drag on a little bit further then what seems realalistic. I call this the Bleach effect. While the fights in Naruto don't drag on nearly as long as the Bleach fights, they do show the symptoms. The plot is
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extremely standard with a fair amount of plot twists thrown in here and there. It just barely crawls out of mediocrity.
ART: 9/10
It has the same quality of art as One Piece without the absurdly stupid looking designs. Backgrounds exist in Naruto so its mountains better than Bleach's sorry excuse for art. There is a large amount of detail put into almost every aspect of every panel. it truely is something to marvel at, at times. Although i have caught a few absolutely terrible backgrounds thrown in there. I mean a 4 year old could litteraly draw them. Heck the mangaka of Bleach could probably draw them...nah, thats unfair to the 4 year olds. But there have only been one or two random terrible backgrounds, and overall the art is simply great.
CHARACTER: 8/10
To start off there are about fifty of them, maybe more. They all have names, faces, most have a back story (tenten?), and they're all uniquely drawn. I do hate a large amount of the characters, and characters would recieve a fairly low grade if it wasn't for Shikimaru. He is like a genious gem in a sea of stupid coal. I have also found out, that Tenten has become one of my favorite characters. Why? you ask. Well, she is so obviously hated by the mangaka. She fought two times. In her first fight she got knocked unconcious before she could even touch her opponent. And her second fight was a draw...because she was fighting a clone of herself. She is halariously left out of every major event that ever happens. Hell, its possible she could have been dead for the past 100 chapters, and the other characters didn't even notice. She contributes nothing to the characters, but i just thought i would mention her because it entertains me.
*cough* Back on track. Shikimaru alone, saves the characters from getting a failing grade. Shikimaru puts the characters on his back and wins them an 8. Good job Shikimaru. Now go teach Tenten how to make cookies. Maybe then she'll be a bit more useful.
ENJOYMENT: 9/10
Aside from the enjoyment i get from mocking Tenten, the fights are actually pretty well done...most of the time. Recently they've begun to show signs of the Bleach effect. The first half was all solid fight scenes all the time. But I think when Shippuuden started Bleach became contagious, and Naruto caught some of the bad. It's a good thing Shikimaru has some really good fight scenes (Zombie v Shikimaru = smile), and once again he saves the enjoyment from getting a lower score then it would have without him. So for enjoyment i give Shikimaru a 9. You can give that to your friends Shikimaru.
OVERALL: 8/10
A meh story, great art, bad charact-SHIKIMARU, and Decent enjo-SHIKIMARU!!!, gives Naruto an okay 6...but Shikimaru alone boots the manga to an 8! woah. First time i've ever done that. If this manga was called Shikimaru, and was focused on Shikimaru all the time, it would probably be even higher, but sadly Naruto is the main character in Naruto so its an 8.
*bites cookie* GAH! GO TO HELL TENTEN, YOU BURNT MY COOKIES!!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 19, 2009
I started reading Psyren for one purpose, and one purpose only. I wanted another Gantz.
STORY: 7/10
The story starts out similar to Gantz. People are teleported away randomly to go fight mosters for some unexplained reason. The only reward being that they may some day be free from the hell (sorta) that is Psyren. Theres different missions and such, and in the beging Psyren was doing great as my "second Gantz". Sadly, the whole thing changed. I'm not going to go into too many details because i hate spoilers and i hate spoiling, but it pretty much turns into any other shounen. People with special
...
powers fight monsters to save the world. Can't shounen mangakas ever think of anything else? Story started off at a solid 9, but it dropped dramatically after the first couple volumes. My fingers are crossed that alot of the main characters die off, and the story turns more Gantz-like again.
ART: 5/10
I started off not really liking the art. It grew on me a little bit, but not much. It won't really pull you into the story. It has sort of a bleach feeling to it, but not as terrible. The backgrounds are there, but at times they can be very boring and plain. I'm getting bored just thinking about the art so just know that it's very very bleach-like.
CHARACTER: 3/10
Almost no character development so far. Only 73 chapters have been released, and i'm holding out until chapter 100 before saying theres no character development at all, but for now theres none. At least the characters are a unique bunch. Theres a hot-headed, hero main character, a damsel-in-distress romantic interest, a cool guy, and even a never before seen snikering villian who wants to rule the world.....I'm beging to think theres some sort of "writting shounen for dummies" guide book that all the shounen mangakas read. A shounen bible of sorts. All main characters must never give up! When a main character is about to die just give him a super special awsome power to use just in the knick of time!
...but i digress. Characters are just poor. They're overflowing with genericness.
ENJOYMENT: 5/10
The begining of the manga was so Gantz-like it was like the second comming of Jesus...but Gantz instead of Jesus. I enjoyed the begining a lot. I really did. Where the manga is at now, not so much.
And since good + bad = average, I'll give it an 5. But if Psyren continues with the generic shounen thing it's been doing lately this rating will surely drop even lower.
OVERALL: 5/10
If I were to just rate the begining, i would rate it a well deserved 9. Too bad the mangaka stumbled upon the Shounen bible, and messed it all up. I was this close to having a second Gantz. Well if you like Bleach, One Peice, or generic shounen number 3, then you will like Psyren a lot. It will only get better the more you read. For most others, it will only get worse. Psyren was promising, but it's no Gantz.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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