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Suicide is a topic that, while included in narrative quite often, is not often the focus. Those few times when it is, more often than not, the story follows the character in the events leading up to their suicide rather than what happens to the character after. And honestly, most of the time when the focus IS on what happens after the suicide, it is not well done. This is one of those cases.

To be fair, this manga is actually quite interesting. The events that the protagonist goes through in his own little Purgatory are surprising and at times exciting and it does a ... pretty good job of holding its readers' interest. As well, the art, though nothing special, is consistently good. The characters, for the most part, are quite flat at trope-ish, but that's quite normal in this kind of manga.

The problem I have with this series is a problem I have as someone who has dealt with suicidal ideation for the majority of my life and has helped other people work through their own suicidal thoughts. Because this series focuses on how much OTHERS are negatively affected by someone's suicide which, as most people who have been suicidal can tell you, is not as original one might think and is very much not a good thing for suicidal people to see.

Suicidal people KNOW that their potential suicide will have a negative affect on others, it's not something we're completely oblivious to, and trying to write a narrative of "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH YOUR SELFISH ACTION" honestly comes across as very ignorant of what people experiencing depression go through. The idea of having to "redeem" yourself after suicide is harmful and tired and works more towards further guilting people going through an extremely painful mental illness rather than taking any steps to try to help them. This takes an even bigger step down as the story focuses on the protagonist having to try to save people who abused him and directly lead to his suicide.

To summarize, Rengoku no Karma is interesting but, as a suicide survivor, it leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.

This series can easily be summed up in one word: Average.

The story is the standard set up of two characters being long time friends and one has fallen for the other. It doesn't make any effort to go beyond this basic set up, falling into quite a few standard conventions and set ups. The characters remain one-dimensional tropes without being given much uniqueness and, though likable, are nothing memorable. The art as well is quite typical for this kind of story, with thick lines and character models that look kind of awkward about half the time.

Also be warned that there is one incidence in ... of sexual assault, although the assaulter backs down quite quickly.

Overall, if you're looking for a mindless romance to pass the time, this will do you just fine. Just don't expect anything special out of it.

Every so often, we encounter someone in our lives who we're never properly able to let go of, no matter how much we want to. A sudden reunion with a former upperclassman spurs a whirlwind of events in Yozora no Summiko de, a story about love, responsibility, and memories.

The story is a simple one done well. An elementary school teacher has by chance reunited with a former friend whom he had romantic feelings for only to learn that this friend is the father of one of his students. Due both to a rough parting and the binds of their current professional relationship, they have ... difficulty accepting one another back into their lives. On on hand is Hoshino, still trapped in the past relationship they shared. On the other is Akihiro, who has the responsibility of his troublesome son and wishes simply to leave the past behind.

"He was like a star to me: always shining, always so bright. Always out of reach."

The art is something that some people will love while some might be annoyed. It's reminiscent of a sketchbook in some ways, lacking crisp, defined lines, with the panels often being disjointed. It looks messy, but not in a way that's accidental or ugly, and as the series progresses and the author uses even more artistic imagery, it's nothing short of beautiful. Especially pleasing to the eye are the sadly few colour pages which resemble water colour paintings.

The characters are well done and believable, with each having a distinctly different design and personality from the others. The steps they take throughout fit with their motivations and former actions and the verisimilitude is always high. These aren't the most complicated characters ever, but they're also not at all static or two-dimensional.

Overall, this is an absolutely gorgeous series capable in places of bringing it's reader to tears and, while never becoming too dark or being preachy in it's messages, it maintains a poetic, almost dreamlike air to it all the way through.

What would you do if a member of your family went insane? I'm not sure how many people have really considered this possibilty, but it's quite a scary concept not uncommon in horror movies.

Higurashi no Naku koro ni Onisarashi-hen addresses that concept, being a side story to the popular Higurashi series that's able to be enjoyed even by readers not familiar with the original series.

Onisarashi-hen focuses on a girl from the rural town of Okinomiya who has recently moved to a much more urban area only to later learn of a gas leak that wiped out the entire village of Hinamizawa, a villiage near ... Okinomiya that her grandmother was from. Following this are numerous reports of formor residents of Hinamizawa and the surrounding regions going killing their family members as well as innocents.

As stated before, this concept of a family member going insane and murdering their own loved ones has been done before, but it's pulled off very well here. One of the reasons this idea is probably so popular is due to how realistic it is, unlike horror concepts that have to do more with the supernatural, and that gives Onisasari-hen a nice edge of foreboding.

The ending as well was very good, with a very good and unexpected twist that remains reminisent to the rest of the Higurashi series, though it may be a bit too unexpected for some people.

The art as well is very good, having a disturbing sense of realism to it without looking real enough that it becomes more disturbing than it should be, something that helps with the overall atmosphere. The only thing is that a couple of the character models look a bit out of place or just oddly drawn. I swear the grandmother looks like ET in a wig every so often...

The murder scenes are also well drawn, never going noticably off model while managing to fully represent the horror or anger the characters are feeling.

Character-wise though, this series could use a bit of work. While all the characters are likable, exept maybe the murderer at times, they aren't very well developed little buggers, forever doomed to the same character traits. This can be blamed a fair bit however on the fact that it's a very short series meant mostly to instill the reader with fear, quite a bit of it being action scenes. As well, they try to cram a fair number of characters in, some of which probably weren't needed, but still aren't too much of a hinderance as they all play some role in the overarcing story. Also in this arc, we're greeted once again by Ooishi and Akasaka, who stay wonderfully in character throughout.

This is an enjoyable little romp through the land of psycosis that is wonderfully reminiscent of a good old fashioned horror movie with added links to the overall Higurashi story. As I mentioned before, this can be enjoyed by people not familiar with the original series, though people familar with it will probably get more out of it, so if you're thinking of trying Higurashi but aren't sure if you'll like it, consider giving this a try. Be warned though, it's about as bloody as the series ever gets.

Also, a warning to animal lovers, there is a puppy killing scene near the beginning of this, though it luckily isn't very detailed.

All in all, I'm happy to give this wonderful side story an 8 out of 10.

Oh God, why did I watch this...? *Sigh* It's not bad, it really isn't. It was just... Boring.

To start off, unlike it's parent series Toradora!, which revolved around a love dodecahedron of sorts, SOS focuses on... Food. While this is interesting at first, it soon looses its panache. There isn't really much plot to talk about. It's just talking about food and saying that it's delicious.

The art as well isn't great. As this is more or less a gag spin-off, the character models are all very chibi and seems a bit reminiscent of Haruhi-chan. What's interesting about the character designs is that the girls all ... have something that relates to their nicknames. Taiga, the Palmtop Tiger, has tiger ears and a tail, Ami, also known as Stupid Chihuahua has dog ears and a tail and Minori has... a flower? The boys don't have anything though, which is a bit sad.

The backgrounds also are very simple, keeping an undetailed version of the backgrounds from the series with people in the background just being gray blobs.

As for the characterization itself, all the characters maintain the personalities they would have had around the middle of Toradora!, but with any hints of drama taken away of course. The main problems they have is that they do roughly the same thing, from dialogue to actions, in every episode.

The soundtrack as well is very similar to the original series, though it only uses the more upbeat tracks and it isn't very noticeable anyways. The voice acting is the same as Toradora! though and the actors do great with the given material.

Some people will enjoy this, some people won't. If you've watched Toradora! beforehand though (which you should considering this is a spin-off) you will probably find something in this to enjoy and luckily it's not a long show so it doesn't have time to get too boring. Chances are though, you'll know from the first episode whether or not you will enjoy it.

With that said, I give this delicious "Strawberry On Shortcake" a 6 out of 10.

Like any fan of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica would be, I was excited when I looked on ANN and found out about the creation of this spin off, and although Oriko's story isn't on the same level as Madoka's, I wasn't disapointed.

Warning: As this is a spin off series, there will be spoilers of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, also refered to as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, in here.

Unfortunetly, the plot is easily the weakest point. Taking place in one of the different time zones. There, instead of witches, Kyouko and Mami are having to fight against a Black Magical Girl, a magical girl who ... has more or less switched sides.

Although this is an interesting premise, it isn't properly developed until several chapters into this seven chapter story resulting in it not being as developed as it could have been. Even so, once we learn of this, it does add a nice unexpected element to the mix and adds some new intigue to the story.

The ending as well is good and surprising while fitting the concept quite nicely, but seems a bit sudden and forced and the little epilogue it has seems out of place and unneeded.

The main problem I have with this story though is that at the beginning it didn't seem to know what it wanted to do and winds up switching focus characters and throwing in characters from the original series last second as well as ones who aren't needed for more than one or two scenes, or even LINES, which could have been proformed by other characters or just avoided without it making much difference.

As for the art work, it's very different from what was in Madoka Magica. It has a much rougher, creepier look to it. Although this seemed out of place during the more light hearted beginning, once it got more into the darker elements it really fit nicely.

While the style does result in some odder looking panels, it's effective and was a good choice for the series. All the magical girls the we knew from the original series are back and it gives a nice spin of their character designs. All are distuinguishable and unique with the new characters leaving a strong impresion.

Character wise, all the characters from Madoka Magica who are used here remain in character and are therefore what we expect. The few character who are unique to this, such as Oriko herself, are interesting and unique, but aside from Oriko they seem a bit underdeveloped. We do receive backstory for all these new characters though so I don't really have much room to complain.

This is a fun little escapade that I think anyone who enjoyed Madoka Magica should take a look at at some point. Although it doesn't add anything to the original story, with the exeption of the borrowed character it creates a story all it's own that remains enjoyable throughout and I therefore can't reward this with anything less than an overall score of 8, though it does lean towards a 7 oncein a while.

Like it's spiritual predecessor Higurashi, Umineko no Naku Koro ni is split into eight arcs, with the first four being question ones and the last four answer. This is a review of the first arc, Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch, often refered to simply by the series name, like on here, due to it being the first arc.

As a forewarning, I may end up comparing this to Higurashi a lot due to them being very similar, but I'll try to do so as little as possible.

Ah, the story. In this we get Ryukishi07's usual style of telling you as little as ... possible for the question arcs so you have to try to fit it all together. The plot here is fairly typical of a horror/mystery with a group of people being stranded somewhere as they all start to get killed until there are none left ala Ten Little Indians. What Umineko adds though, is magic, possible insanity and some of the most gruesome murders I'm seen in any media.

In fact the main problem the plot seems to have is just how in the dark in leaves it's readers. Of course I can't fault it on this though as it's a mystery series with this being only the first arc.

Sadly though, it being the first arc is also probably the main fault the arc has overall as due to that we don't get a lot of the wonderful elements and banter between characters that we do in later arcs. It's still we'll done though and manages to maintain a disturbing tone from the first murder to the last.

As I seem to be noticing with a lot of manga I've reviewing as of late, the art is one of the worst things the series has going for it. Thankfully, it does get better as the series progresses. The backgrounds are all fine and dandy, but the way the characters are drawn by this artist looks off a lot of the time, though it's good when it needs to be.

Disturbingly, the best drawn things in this arc are the corpses... I'll say this: I remember watching the anime several months ago and complaining about all the censoring that was done on the corpses. I am now GLAD they did that. Honestly, I think if I'd seen some of those pictures with detailed colouring, I may have lost my lunch. Just... Look for yourself, but you have been forewarned all you squeemish people out there!

Charcter wise, this series is a little lacking. I don't mean that there's too few of them, oh no, we get nineteen in this arc alone. Where it's lacking is the actual development of the characters and this is a problem that we had back in Higurashi too. The characters are all fun from the adorable ones to the ones you just want to punch in the face at times, but they're all brutally underdeveloped little things, doomed to forever maintain one character trait.

They are luckily all memorable thoug, something to be thankful for in a series with so many who often end up dying before we even can remember their names.

Despite my griping, I am happy to report that this series is very enjoyable. The beginning is a bit slow and deductions can drag on once in a while, but when the shit hits the fan it gets good.

I'm really hoping that this becomes more popular as right now it's only really known by Higurashi fans for the most part, so I'm really hoping it can break away from that and become a story unto itself.

I am happy to give this frighteningly gruesome ride a 7 out of 10, leaning on an 8.

Right off, I just want to say that as of yet, I have been unable to find the fifth and final chapter to this series and therefore this review will only be covering the first four chapters. I normally would wait for the last chapter to come out, but it seems the last chapter came out over almost a year ago so... If I manage to find this last chapter I will edit this review, but until now, this is all you get.

The plot to Hiki is an original one yet it feels like it's been done before. The concept of a creepy looking ... girl's head and/or arms appearing whenever the protagonist Rin pulls or tries to grab something is interesting, yet as of chapter four, it has not been explained at all or how it really ties into the wordrobe in the woods.

As mentioned as well, the plot feels like it's been done before, probably largle due to how similar the girl's head is to that of the Grudge.

Finally plot wise, the entire thing seems very episodic, going from one incident of the head appearing to another without much development or actual plot substance given, making the series seem rushed and a bit of a cry for "This could have been so much better!" It's a good idea, but sadly it wasn't pulled off very well.

The art, on the other hand, is quite good. Not perfect though as the characters do go a bit off model a couple times in each chapter, usually when the head pops out to say hello. The art has a very unique and viseral feel to it though that helps to pull the series along. All the characters are distinguishable, not just the same character model with different hair.

Which brings us to characterization oddly enough. This is another weak point the series has. A lot of the characters seem like they could be interesting and we really want to see them developed more instead of just skimmed as they are. This can be blamed a fair bit simply on how short the series is, but even so it really feels like they threw in a lot of unneeded side characters. For example, the girl in chapter three who seems to be more or less stalking Rin yet she NEVER APPEARS AGAIN after being in all of two scenes despite seeming to have an interesting background based on what little we found out about her.

I'm not gonna lie, I did enjoy this probably a bit more than it deserved. It's a good idea that sadly went to the dumps and the horror scenes often end up funnier than they were scary.

I really wish this had been better, but I can't give this more than a 6 out of 10. If you're looking for a bad horror to laugh at, feel free to try this, but otherwise don't bother. Also if you do plan to read this, be prepared for some bad fan translations as that's all this is available in right now for English speakers, and it's some of the worst translating I've seen in a while.

Onikakushi-hen is the first arc in the Higurashi series as well as one of the most popular, but is it really as good as people say?

The story is a relativly good one: Boy moves to small town and learns of annual murders that take place. Boy becomes paranoid and begins to suspect friends, etc. It's well done, but it Keiichi's change between believing his friends weren't telling him about the murders to avoid scaring him and believing it to be because they themselves had played a role in the murders seemed a bit sudden. This is a bit of an issue since it doesn't give ... much reason for the reader to believe that Mion and Rena are really involved and they're instead more inclined to think Keiichi is simply paranoid. Due to this, a lot of the scary atmosphere is lost, which is not a good thing to happen in a horror series.

Onikakushi-hen's art is mediocre. Not amazing, but not horrible. It works well for what's used though, so not much to talk about there.

The characterization is quite important as it has to set up the characters unlike the other arcs that can just rely on what readers should know from previous arcs. With this being said, it seemed to do a good job. Rena is adorable, Mion is a tom boy and so on. What I did notice about the characters however was how Satoko and Rika reacted at the end which provided a surprising amount of character development that wouldn't become relevent for serveral arcs.

Sadly, the arc didn't manage to retain the scary atmosphere that it could have, but it was well done all the same and is more than enjoyable.

I give this adorable paranoia a 7 out of 10.

Higurashi is one of my favorite anime series, but that doesn't mean I love all of it, and Tatarigoroshi-hen is probably the arc I disliked most while watching the anime. One of the reasons for this may have been that it focuses on Satoko, who I find annoying, but... Que sera sera. I still say that from what I've read and watched, it's my least favorite, but the manga adaptation of this definetely made me hate it less.

The story of this arc is a simple one on the surface, but it gets more complicated as it progresses. Out of the question arcs the series has, ... it seems to give away the biggest hints about what exactly is going on in Hinamizawa. I advise anyone reading it to pay close attention to what's happening. However, it also offers up a lot of questions which, even after having finished both the anime and reading most of the answer arcs, I still can't say exactly what was going on a fair amount of the time here. Considering I was actively trying to piece together what was going on all the while during the time I was reading this, that's not a very good thing.

Also, as stated before, Tatarigoroshi-hen focuses more on Satako than any other arc in the series. I personally find her to be very annoying most of the time and, from what I understand, so does a lot of people. This arc does manage to give her character some sympathy, but she's still annoying, near the end especially.

I think the best part of this arc was actually the final chapter, the events of with I don''t believe were in the anime. It gives some interesting insight into the mentallity of the character it focuses on and is done very well.

Art is probably this arcs main fault. From what I've seen, it has the worst art. Considering this also is the least popular arc, I really have to wonder why they did this instead of giving it the BEST art so people would be more willing to buy it. It's tolerable for the part and even good at times, but the characters go off model at times and it just doesn't work.

Characterization is roughly the same as with the other arcs with the only big difference being more insight into Satoko's character. Overall, it's good but somewhat underdeveloped.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this arc. It starts off a bit slow, but once the shit hits the fan, it gets good quite fast. Of course, anyone who likes the series should read this and they may even find something to like in it that they didn't in the anime like I did.

Overall, I give this cruel twist of fate a 7 out of 10.