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The wasted potential with this manga exceeded my expectations, so many untied loose ends and to add insult to injury that open ending... Felt so damn unsatisfying!!!

Now let's agree the first arc was concluded beautifully, the build-up, the climax and the potentials it opened made me think oh boy we're in for an amazing continuation. But come volume 5 and the tone shifted drastically, no concrete explanation to why the characters started behaving differently and introduction to new uninteresting characters... Lemme take a deep breath *** the 2nd arc villain was ass! Unoriginal back story and using his "prophecy" for the main character as basis ... to that God-awful open ending just... Hecking grinds my gears man!

TL;DR manga choked after volume 4, absolutely fell tripping on those loose ends but art and themes are still solid so it gets a reluctant 7/10.

If an anime could be a sleeping spell this one is it, but in a good way!
I'm of the opinion that pure comfort-centric slice of life with next to no plot could fall short when put next to more impactful series'. But if honourable mentions were rated, I'd say Tanaka-kun deserves a 10/10.
I loved how softly animated and scored in a way that could potentially lull you to sleep. I'm in love with the voice acting and even lack there of, I'm referring to the long drawn out pauses which in my opinion made the best contribution to this series' comedy.
And finally the comedy: light ... and lowkey chuckles accompany this series pretty consistently, absolutely no need for chaotic or weird scenes typical to anime humour.
Its cozy, breezy and forget-your-worries vibe is perfect for someone looking to take a break from any real-life stressors or searching to recuperate after watching some heavy shit like Evangelion.

So Shogi is this board game that old folks love but it isn't chess but sounds so similar but this anime managed to put in on a hype level similar to any good sports anime... And that's actually my least favourite thing about this series!

It's the start of 2023 and I wanted to kickstart my depression for this year with something good. I've been hearing a lot of good things about this anime and there I was absolutely hooked from the first episode.

(In my books a series that hooks me from episode 1 is always a series worthy of at least an 8)

The editing screamed ... Monogatari and no surprise it's animated by the same studio, this was the first time I noticed such similarity in the anime I watch and I have to admit it fit the psychological depictions of of March Comes so so so much better!

I never wrote a well-written review before so I don't know how to make points about story, animation, enjoyment... etc like most of the reviews here on MAL but I really connected with this series having gone through loss and wanting to break free and searching for somewhere to belong... So basically I'm precisely the demographic lol

And I know I mentioned depression and it's true it's predominantly present all through the series BUT it's fucking anime bro so cute and cosy and fluffy elements are also there, actually now that I think about it, it's pretty messed up the transition between serious, sombre and traumatic scenes and absolutely sickeningly sweet and fluffy scenes... But it kinda works? In an avant-garde artsy mess-with-your-emotions way?

Anyway, series good, 10/10, loved everything about it!

Reading the last chapter of this trainwreck of a webtoon and I'm bothered by the obviously lazy work put into the backgrounds. Everything looks like real life pictures put through a comic filter. I stopped reading this webtoon at chapter 196 but I never remember thinking it had bad artwork, in fact the artwork was one of the few selling points for it, so I don't understand why very little work was put into the series' finale... If I was still a passionate fan I'd be offended but now I just don't care for it. What a ride that could only be described as mid.

This is not my final review but I want to remember some points while I'm reading:

. Bakuman is very nostalgic of how we pictured striving towards our dreams as kids.
. I'm learning a ton of information about manga production, and I have more respect for manga creators.
. Mashiro and Takagi are wayyyy too mature for their age and they don't sound like normal teenagers, in fact aside from the girls none of the kids in this manga act their age, and I hope to see some realism going forward.
. I thought the kids weren't realistic but boy oh boy how unrealistic the parents are. I ... expected there would've been more struggling in this area at the beginning but no the parents are actually every teenager's dream parents. Maybe we'll see something else going forward but I don't think so
.
.

10-9-8-7
This is how my rating for this Manhwa slowly changed leaving nothing but memories of excitement for the early chapters, along with guiltily struggling to finish the last 30 chapters.
As much as putting the blame on the translation is a comfortable excuse for why this series stopped making sense, I think it's also valid to blame the confusing design of characters in the late chapters. It was a mental strain knowing who's a beast, a human, a monarch, a ruler... Let alone understanding who's on who's side and why they're fighting each other.
When I think of the early designs for the dungeon beasts and how ... each one of them was unique and memorable, I feel myself beginning to tear up a little bit.
Where this Manhwa lacked in character development and maturity, it made it up with epic battle designs and scenery, so it's a shame to see it all fall off towards the end.
I was so eager to be done with this Manhwa, so much that the MC's final decision made literally 0 impact on me.
Then again maybe it's my fault for expecting a power fantasy Manhwa to be anything but mindless wish fulfillment story where the author gives up half way through.
Don't get me wrong, I would still recommend this Manhwa, despite everything I said, it still holds up as a classic in the genre. But I wouldn't recommend becoming super invested in it and as a result having unfairly high expectations.