- Supporter
- Last Online1 hour ago
- GenderMale
- Birthday1993
- LocationUK
- JoinedNov 19, 2016
Secret Santa Exchange MAL Bunkasai Visitor 20th Anniversary MALoween Mansion (Trapped Soul) Fantasy Anime League Olympic Sports Fantasy Anime League You Should Read This Manga
Also Available at
RSS Feeds
|
Mar 21, 2025
Blue Box isn’t breaking new ground—it’s a straightforward romance with a dash of sports thrown into the mix. But does its familiar setup make it any less impressive? Not in the slightest.
This take on Kouji Miura’s well-loved Shounen Jump manga nails plenty of what made the original work shine. Romance adaptations often fall flat when compared to their origin, but Blue Box stands out as an exception. The animation pops with sharp, stunning visuals that bring every feeling and movement to life with real care and depth. Yuki Hayashi, as expected, delivers a knockout soundtrack that tugs at the heartstrings.
The characters here feel genuine and
...
relatable, each one pulling their weight without any pointless padding. Main characters can sometimes drag a show like this down, but Taiki bucks that trend with solid growth that keeps you rooting for him.
The anime sticks close to the manga’s big moments, handling them with smart direction that doesn’t miss a beat. On top of that, we’re treated to a generous 25 episodes of this high-quality production—a feast! Whether you’re a fan of the manga or coming in fresh, this is a romance I’d easily suggest to anyone.
Can’t wait for season two!
Plot: 7.5
Characters: 9
Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Mar 18, 2025
Watari-kun no xx ga Houkai Sunzen is essentially a standard love triangle romance tale, though it involves more characters than just three (however, one of them is so minor they barely matter...)
During the initial 30 chapters or so, the story might mislead you into expecting something darker or more intense. The characters come off as slightly unhinged, and there's a lingering tension that keeps you on edge. But most of that buildup fizzles out into nothing significant, with explanations that feel pretty ordinary.
The romance itself is decent, nothing extraordinary. The characters make plenty of irritating and baffling decisions, which is not uncommon for this genre.
...
Things do pick up in the second half, where the manga dives a little deeper into the trials of an ongoing relationship, making it more engaging.
My biggest issue is a common one in this genre: the main character’s decisions are often downright retarded, like they’re just there to stir up melodrama or for furtherance of the plot.
On the bright side, the artwork stands out. The characters and settings are drawn with a lot of expression and care, which makes it visually appealing.
Even with its flaws, I ended up liking this manga more than I expected—sort of a “guilty pleasure” vibe. I probably wouldn't recommend this, unless you too are drawn to the occasional "trashy" manga.
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Art: 7.5
Enjoyment: 6
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Mar 14, 2025
Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata is a tale that doesn’t shy away from its mission to tug at your heartstrings, delivering many an emotional gut-punch by the time it wraps up. Spanning just 32 chapters, it skillfully burrows into your affections, making you genuinely root for its deeply relatable protagonists, each grappling with their own inner turmoil in a way that feels authentic and human.
Beneath the layers of melancholy lies a touching lesson about forgiving oneself, the value of meaningful relationships, and pushing forward through life’s challenges with resilience and hope.
The artwork is stunning, capturing every flicker of feeling—whether understated or intense—with precision and
...
beauty. Give it a read; it’s a promise it won’t let you down.
Plot: 8
Characters: 9
Art: 9
Enjoyment: 8
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Mar 12, 2025
Terra Formars starts off as a manga with a fairly intriguing concept, hooking readers with its intense focus on survival and suspense. These elements carry the story effectively through its initial arc, keeping you invested in what’s unfolding. However, once that arc wraps up, the series takes a sharp turn away from what made it engaging, plunging instead into a convoluted mess of war and government conspiracy themes that, frankly, fall flat and feel absurd.
What were once minor annoyances—quirks you could shrug off while waiting for the manga to return to its strengths—become the main course. The manga morphs into a lackluster battle shounen, bogged
...
down by overly detailed and tiresome scientific explanations that seem like a cheap trick to mask a ridiculous plot. Spoiler: it doesn’t succeed.
The artwork is a mixed bag. The character designs and environments have a solid, appealing style, but too many characters look frustratingly alike, making it hard to tell them apart. Action scenes can also be a bit of a mess, with unclear transitions between panels that leave you guessing what just happened.
If you’re tempted to give it a shot, know that you’ll get about 150 chapters of decent content before it plummets into mediocrity. It’s a shame to say it, because the early promise was genuine, but unless you’re ready for disappointment, this one’s better skipped.
Plot: 2
Characters: 4
Art: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Feb 3, 2025
Tower of God season 2 might be one of the most frustrating viewing experiences I've ever had.
Why? Because in just about every sense of the word, the show has been an apparent failure, and yet, underneath the sheer below-adequacy, you can tell there's a great story underneath, wanting to be told - bear in mind that I approach this review from the perspective of someone that has not (yet) read the source material.
There is more or less only one positive thing to mention about ToG's second season, so it makes sense to mention it first: the music. Kevin Penkin returns as composer, and does not
...
disappoint. The ethereal and atmospheric soundtrack sets a great tone, and tries (but ultimately fails) its best to carry the show on its back.
Now, on to the negatives - where to begin...
The animation is horrendous and might as well have been put together in a high-school PowerPoint project - for a story that contains a lot of action, clearly this doesn't cut it. Pacing is absolutely dire, as a current ToG anime-only I spent a good portion of the time confused. Who are these new characters? What is this new crucial item/artifact? Why should I care? This is all accompanied by awfully wooden dialogue, which produces a truly bizarre result that somehow ends up being both too fast-paced to follow and depressingly boring at the same time.
Many people seem to think that changing studio killed this show, and after watching this, I find it difficult to disagree.
One final positive is that this experience may well push me to pick up the manhwa, so that I can enjoy the non-bastardised version of what appears to be a potentially great story, let down by a seemingly amateur studio.
Plot: 3
Characters: 3
Animation: 2
Soundtrack: 8
Enjoyment: 2
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Nov 15, 2024
In my opinion, one possible mark of a truly great comedy is when it manages to interweave poignant moments within, tugging on the heartstrings without delivering tonal whiplash.
To that end (and many others), Ponkotsu Ponko is a fantastic manga. The comedic elements are never far away and land practically every single time. There exists a wide array of interesting side characters, all bringing something to the table with their banter and quirky personalities.
The dynamic between Yoshioka Sr. and Ponko is incredibly sweet, even if the former often refuses to respond with much beyond irritation or indifference. Coupled with the close-knit small town they live in,
...
the resulting feel is very warm and homely.
As far as the story goes, it's extremely simple and makes for an easy to read - I finished all 79 chapters in a few days at most.
No complaints about the artwork; crisp and high quality throughout.
Ponkotsu Ponko is a heartwarming, comfy story about the importance of family and forming human connections - one so genuine in its ability to please the reader, that I'd heartily recommend it to just about anyone.
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Art: 8
Enjoyment: 9
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Sep 20, 2024
You would be forgiven for seeing the title of Gimai Seikatsu - or, rather, its English translation, "Days With My Stepsister" - and assuming it to be something skeevy or exploitative. However, you would be absolutely wrong.
This show displays a surprisingly tender, contemplative and mature approach to the theme of taboo love - in this case, between (recently established) step-siblings.
The dialogue and scenes are realistic, calm and generally free of melodrama - much at odds with many typical romance titles. For example, moments of extended silence between characters as they eat a meal are not uncommon. Character motivations, while occasionally a bit twisted, are completely
...
believable.
Animation is generally crisp and well done. Voice acting is understated but superb, lending itself well to the calm vibe noted previously. Having never read the source material, I unfortunately cannot speak to the show's effectiveness as an adaptation.
Gimai Seikatsu also ends at a good point in the story, paving the way for a second season - which it thoroughly deserves for daring to challenge the status quo of the romance genre.
Plot: 7.5
Characters: 9
Animation: 8
Soundtrack: 6.5
Enjoyment: 7.5
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Sep 15, 2024
ReLIFE begins as a somewhat goofy comedy, and over time masterfully builds up to an emotional crescendo, with an extremely satisfying payoff.
This series follows Kaizaki Arata, a late-20's NEET who gets invited to join a program which involves getting temporarily de-aged into a high school student for one year, and attending a high school to rediscover themselves.
The premise is interesting, and is initially presented in a mostly humorous manner, given that the underlying Kaizaki is still almost 30, despite having a younger appearance. Over the course of the manga, the impact of the surroundings on Kaizaki - and his impact on those around him -
...
becomes much more profound.
Despite its oft-lighthearted vibe, ReLIFE refuses to shy away from drama and raw emotion, resulting in some extremely memorable moments for a variety of different reasons. Friendship, love, guilt, shame, isolation - some of the themes explored at various points in the story.
The art is excellent and consistently elevates every conversation, every emotion, every event that occurs in each chapter.
All of the characters are layered and interesting, and the way they interact with Kaizaki is realistic and believable.
I felt just about every major emotion at some point while reading this story - happiness, sadness, stress, relief and satisfaction at the ending.
ReLIFE is ultimately a story of great personal growth, confronting past trauma and the importance of looking forward. Having finished it, I am left with a great sense of melancholy - a true marker of a great series; I can't recommend this one enough.
Plot: 8.5
Characters: 9.5
Art: 9
Enjoyment: 9.5
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Aug 3, 2024
Boku no Hero Academia requires no introduction, and closer to the time of its meteoric rise, was oft toted as the "next big shonen". The question is, did it live up to those expectations?
The premise is simple: people are born with a superpower (named Quirk in this universe), and the MC doesn't have one, until a chance encounter with the world's current #1 strongest hero changes his fate.
Arcs in the early to middle portions of the manga are generally very strong, proving difficult to put down once you pick them up. There is a wide array of characters, and the various Quirks they possess gives
...
them their own interesting personality and flair. A not-insignificant amount of care is also taken to explain the details and intricacies of each Quirk where necessary. Humor is a also a strong point for the first half or so, given the vast number of striking personalities in the story.
Around the final third of the manga, the tone shifts somewhat and attempts to become more serious. I say 'attempts' because the characters' actions and dialogue fail to live up to this shift. It's around this time that the writing takes a rather steep nosedive, and really starts to feel like the mangaka wasn't finding as much enjoyment in writing.
Fights begin to feel drawn out and convoluted, in a constant state of trying to one-up themselves; the artwork also seemed to occasionally become much more confusing and difficult to follow during action sequences.
Unfortunately, the manga never really recovers beyond this point, meandering haphazardly to its eventual demise; the ending is not spared from this decline, attempting to wrap things up with a time skip, which left me feeling a little unsatisfied with the outcome.
Now, to answer the question posed at the start of the review: ultimately, I would say Boku no Hero Academia did not live up to its lofty expectations; the highs are wonderful, but the lows are really quite dire. Nevertheless, its strong early half has likely cemented its legacy in the shonen world, but given its numerous shortcomings, I would struggle to heartily recommend it.
Plot: 6
Characters: 8
Art: 6.5
Enjoyment: 6.5
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Jul 31, 2024
Kuzu no Honkai is, without a doubt, one of the least enjoyable manga that I have ever read. However, that doesn't mean to say that it's bad; rather, it is simply unrelenting in its misery.
The story follows a pair of high school students that find themselves in a similar situation - one of unrequited love, with little to no hope of the situation changing for the better. To make things worse, both objects of their respective affections attend the same school (as teachers), and we discover early on that a spark exists between them. To relieve the suffering brought about by this miserable situation, the
...
two students form a relationship in which they substitute the other in place of their desired partner.
It is no exaggeration to say that barely a few pages can go by without you wanting to grab the scruff of a character's neck and scream at them to stop what they're doing! In love, they are horribly out of their depth, unable to properly move forward, inevitably dragging others into their quagmire.
The artwork is absolutely deserving of praise, as it excels at driving home the manga's main forte (misery), but also boosts the few lighthearted moments, to give the reader a moment's reprieve.
Frustrating as they are, the characters are the focal point here; complex enough to make the story at least a little compelling, but sometimes their idiocy knows no bounds, and they seem unable to think with anything other than their genitalia.
Make no mistake, Kuzu no Honkai is not a romantic story; it lays bare the rotten underbelly of love and lust, making for an uncomfortable, often frustrating read, but not without some emotional depth and strong art to elevate it.
Plot: 5.5
Characters: 7.5
Art: 8.5
Enjoyment: 3
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|