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I have been reading manhua, reading novels and webnovels about cultivation and martial arts, and watching various donghuas for many years now; to put it bluntly I've been hooked on the genre ever since I picked up my first cultivation manhua. One of my complaints with 99.9% of the series of this genre is that the romance sucks so much that I'd rather the author just skip it all together. Usually the MC either has intercourse with some random beauty because of an aphrodisiac while she's hurt/being chased by enemies; or/and the female is simply irrelevant to the story only serving as a burden to ... the MC; or/and the female's actions are of no relevance to the story whatsoever.

Zhu Xian is quite literally driven by the romance between the characters. So much so that I believe that season 1 mostly serves as foreshadowing for the complicated problems and romantic drama of season 2. Seriously, it's so heart-wrenchingly depressing, from the soundtrack to the interactions between the characters, that I felt my heart go into my throat and my eyes tear up. Everything that happened wasn't overly melodramatic and made perfect sense with all the set up of the world setting we got in season 1. This was quite literally peak xianxia romance, and was way better than 90% of series (manga and manhwa included) that completely focus on romance and nothing else.

The overarching main plot didn't progress quite as fast as I expected it to for 26 episodes worth of time, but it was definitely interesting and continued to build on the mysteriousness of the world that we got to experience in season 1.

And as for the action scenes and animations, they were probably the very cream of the crop of donghua. I genuinely got goosebumps. Especially during the second half of the season. Seriously, they got progressively better throughout the season and peaked in the last 2 episodes in a very dramatic fight that was a resultet of an unfortunate but very understandable misunderstanding...

Overall, if you want to watch a donghua then I couldn't recommend Zhu Xian more, especially this 2nd season. The translation generally found on the free streaming sites isn't that bad, if anything it's above average. However, I would recommend torrenting the episodes with the translation from [Hall_of_C] as it's more consistent and as of 02/11/2024 they have released 22/26 episodes with their translation.

Oddly enough the art-style and the general development of the story reminds me of Chainsaw Man. However, the manga is held back by the excessive amount of erotic scenes, subtle and not so subtle NTR, and the fact that the protagonist is OP (unlike Denji), meaning that he already found his own path and we can't look forward to his development at all. I understand that this is meant to be an erotic isekai comedy, but it's really a shame because it could've been so much more if slightly more thought was put into the story and the author held himself back a little with ... the sex scenes.

Still, other than watching MC's woman sucking a goblins dick once, this was pretty fun to read. Just pure dumb fun. And the story isn't bad at all either. 99% of the characters are absolutely insane, including the MC, and that's what gives me the Chainsaw Man vibes along with the gory art and absolutely ridiculous sex scenes. I mean, it isn't unusual for the MC to ride into battle with a girl on his dick...

Wow. This might be the most turbo virgin garbage manga out there. Countless hot fury babes jump our MC but he always panics, gets embarrassed, and refuses to even touch them without flinching, let alone doing something more to them. Not only that but he's also loyal to a fault in a world where loyalty isn't even really a concept, but he won't even touch the girl he likes without fainting and acting like a complete idiot. I've genuinely never seen someone so spineless. This is an explicit erotic manga, you know? The antagonists did more to his girls than he did throughout the entire ... 27 chapters of this story. Honestly, this is so so so bad that this manga's rating can either be 1, if you're a normal functioning human being, or 10, if you're a turbo masochist who wants to die from cringe.

On another note, the art is alright. Way way way above average, and more than this piece of garbage deserves. If you just look at the pictures and completely disregard every word in the text bubbles then this is 8.5/10. But if by some unfortunate twist of fate you end up reading a text bubble, you'll be left with nothing but the urge to gouge your eyes out.

Seriously, this is so bad that it's bordering insanity, as no sane person could come up with this. A random old man mob character on the street of this manga world would be a better MC than the MC of this story.

Zegapain is definitely a hidden gem. If you enjoyed The Matrix then I believe this anime can offer you an experience as deep if not deeper than that trilogy, personally I'm leaning towards Zegapain.

The episodes do a great job of plunging you from slice-of-life happiness into despair, and every single episode has unpredictable plot twists that will push the symbolic knife deeper into your heart, inch by inch. Usually, I don't appreciate how nihilism is portrayed in anime and manga, but Zegapain portrayed hopelessness beautifully and dealt with it in the only proper way it could've been dealt with in the context of the world ... of this anime: not through fancy theories and flowery words, but through the protection of the person loved by the protagonist. Sometimes simple works best. In the oppressive world of Zegapain, where our protagonist is carrying innumerable burdens and a heavy duty, this simplicity was really a breath of fresh air. A very much needed breath of fresh air at that. Oh, and I don't mean "dumb" by saying "simple" by any means.

Unexpectedly, the character development was absolutely excellent. I'm saying "unexpectedly" because the main character is a loud rowdy type of guy. Annoying, right? Except he actually thinks about stuff pretty deeply and the changes to his character are really felt by the viewer and by the people around him. His childhood friend also has great character development at one point, but I can't say the same thing about everyone else. They kind of feel "complete", however there's a very good reason for that feeling, and it makes sense from the perspective of the plot, so the fact that everyone else doesn't get character development ends up making the story better. Amazing, huh? It's the first time I've seen something like this.

The scientific concepts were used very liberally, however the explanations were plausible enough nonetheless. At the end of the anime there were barely any plot holes left, and the ones that were left weren't serious enough to warrant criticism from me. Without spoiling anything I can say that the ending was conclusive enough on all aspects, romance included, and it left me satisfied. But I felt that it wasn't big or epic enough. We're saving the world from a mad-scientist, you know? Why not go out with a BANG?

As far as the animations go, it's above average for 2006, but it's nothing special either. I can't say that I appreciate the way the post-apocalyptic world was portrayed though. Everything is in ruins, everything is grey. I wish there were more colors, more greenery growing on the buildings, more wild animals and not just birds that pop up occasionally. Yeah, the world is supposed to feel dead, but it's just too dead. The mecha fights were meh at best too. Definitely not the strong point of this show.

That being said, if you want an interesting story that will keep you on your toes, then this is a great anime, probably approaching the levels of a masterpiece, especially if you can appreciate character development and a protagonist that grows stronger mentally and not "physically", as he's already the best pilot around from the start. But if you just want to watch robots fighting and don't plan on paying too much attention to the plot, then this isn't for you. The plot is definitely what makes this anime good, the mechas and the fights are just there for some tension.

9.4/10, best girl won (watch the post-credit scene of the last episode). MAL ratings really can't be trusted, I put off watching this for so long...

As someone who decided to read the manga after watching the movies I just want to say that it's significantly better than the movies. It's pretty much two different stories. The characters actually get chapters dedicated to their backgrounds, the mecha fights somehow feel less static than in the animation, the main character is way more OP than portrayed in the movies and the trauma he carries is way more fleshed out, the romance feels better, and we get a proper conclusion to the story of our MC, but not to the story of the continent.

The only problem with this manga is that the ending ... is too abrupt. There was content for many more arcs and the final arc felt awkward in general, but in the grand scale of things it did fit the personality of the protagonist to retire the way he did. So it's not that the ending was bad per se, but there were definitely lots of loose ends left and it couldn't have felt more rushed if you tried.

All in all though, this is a really good mecha story and the author doesn't hesitate when it comes to killing characters which keeps the suspense and tension up throughout the story. I think the best way to describe this manga is that it gives a very adult-like feeling, but without feeling too heavy.

The story kept me engaged and the humor was right up my alley, as for character development, it's a slow-burn journey that's rewarding by the end. However, my problem is with the art of the manga. I would usually overlook it for the most part when I enjoy a story as much as I did with this one, but it's genuinely atrocious at times. And it's not just the drawings but the way the artist organizes the panels, they're just a jumbled mess at times. Of course there are moments when the art is cute, especially when it comes to drawing Ritsu, but it doesn't ... justify the art feeling like a lazy mess 90% of the time. You can feel the low effort through the pictures (though maybe they tried hard but just couldn't do it, and if that's the case I'm sorry for this comment).

And that's why it's a shame. For me this was peak rom-com, and if the art wasn't so messy it'd be a 9.5/10. The story pacing is great, it didn't drag on. The character development stuck with the characters, it didn't magically reset after a misunderstanding or a fight. And the ending was absolutely fantastic and most fitting too. We didn't get an ending open to interpretation like how we usually get with rom-coms (at least for the main couple). But would I like to read this again a year, two years, five years down the line? Probably not, because I wouldn't want to look at the art.

It's unfortunate but it is how it is. The author should've outsourced the art. Their story crafting skill is already maxed out, so it wouldn't be shameful or anything to entrust the drawings and panel organization to someone with a proper skill-set.

It's alright. Wouldn't work if the genders were reversed though. Or at least, the rating would be way lower than 6.5.

Both the 15 year old guy and the 27 year old woman are experiencing love for the first time, so they're really awkward and pure. There are some risque moments but they're kind of appropriate, and they actually de-escalate over time as the protagonists get to know each other and decide to take their time.

The only unrealistic thing is how accepting their friends are of their relationship, even though it's illegal. It makes you wonder if they'd be okay if it was a 27 year ... old dude being in a relationship with a 15 year old girl. I don't think they would...

But since the relationship in this manga stays pure overtime and there's a nice twist in the end, I end up rooting for the leads. Hopefully it works out for them.

Still, this one is weird, but it managed keep me interested, the art was alright, there was no unnecessary drama at all, and the characters were kind of based, therefore I think it's worth reading if you want something somewhat entertaining but not really that deep. At least I wasn't bored for the 2 hours it took me to read this.

It's very messy. Too much stuff happens every chapter and the transitions are non-existent. You'll have the MC going to a magic class for 3 pages, in the 4th page he's in his room forging something, in the 5th page he's in the library reading books about growing potatoes, and in the 10th he's at another random class again.

This pattern is present in every single chapter, making the story hard to keep up with. Also, everyone is nice. There's no major bully or antagonist. Even the villainess is just a little brat that's mostly nice. But the fast pace of the story makes it hard ... to call it a slice-of-life, so I don't know what I'm even reading. The protagonist doesn't even use his game/future knowledge, making me wonder why this is based on an otome game at all...

I clicked on this one on a whim, but surprisingly it held my interest from beginning to the end.

This manga begins as an erotic manga with lots of nudity, but a few chapters in the nudity fades into the background and the author focuses on the plot. Our protagonists are siblings who are in love with each other, and honestly their interactions and the reactions of their family and friends to their relationship felt very realistic. The author balances happy and despairing moments perfectly throughout the manga, knowing when and how far to push our male protagonist into the pits of despair.

Acceptance is something that ... doesn't exist in this manga. If anything, the people related to the siblings find them disgusting and don't want want to involve themselves with them, which I appreciate. It's clear that the author isn't trying to defend these kinds of relationships, but is simply focused on writing about a fetish in a realistic way through the display of the internal and external struggles of the leads.

Therefore, if you wanna jerk the turkey you should probably read something else, as the last third of the manga is devoid of adult scenes. But if you want to read something interesting for a couple of hours, then this is definitely not a bad choice.

I would rate the first 3/4 quarters of this manga 8.5/10. The art is nice, the humor is good, there's good tension in between the main characters and the boxing ties nicely with the romance. It's typical Adachi but feels more shounen than usual, which isn't bad at all and fits the theme of a manga about fighting perfectly.

Unfortunately the last quarter is a confusing mess, with a lot of unnecessary drama and weird arc conclusions. Over half of the manga is dedicated to becoming the best boxer in high school nation wide, but in the end it ends up not mattering, and the title ... becomes trivial. After that we have the final arc that should be about pro boxing, however everyone starts acting weird and against their beliefs. I don't think the last arc is necessary at all. It should've ended with high school boxing and an open ending with a happily ever after.

The personalities of Katsuki-kun and Katsuki-chan are probably my favorite out of all the Adachi characters so far. They're funny and pretty straightforward with each other and the people around them when it counts. It feels like they actually grow up from the first year of high school to the third, and start acting like adults.

Overall, 8.5/10 for the journey, 7/10 for the story in general, 5/10 ending (final 30 or so chapters).

Edit: Adachi's manga get better with every re-read for me for some reason. Therefore after re-reading I'd like to say that the ending is actually fine, if anything I wouldn't mind if it lasted longer. Thus my rating changes to 9/10 for the journey, 9/10 for the story in general and 8/10 for the ending. There's simply a charm to Adachi's works and you honestly don't notice some details without reading his stories multiple times. Especially when it comes to the character expressions because they more often than not reveal the real intentions between what the characters say. Since his stories are often focused on teens, they more often than not say things they don't mean, and act differently from how they actually feel.