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Review Toradora! in 2022 in fact, it seems useless, since we already have two other very old ones that have already gained their relevance, but as I did in the novel of Death, as someone native of Brazil, I feel obliged to come here to represent better in relation to the opinion of the people. Brazilians, who I'm sure also really like the work. My intention here is to make more people interested in the work, so everything here will be without spoilers, and I ask you to be patient, after all, it is very difficult not to do a big review since there are ... 10 volumes of 350 pages. I know very few people will read this in its entirety, but I still do it, because if I can get at least one person to read the work and enjoy it, that's enough. Oh, and I'm not going to make any comparisons to the anime, as I've never seen it.

Generally speaking, Toradora! It's...very interesting, and I actually think it's worth your time as well as your money. Of course, from the beginning understand, the work is not amazing or the most interesting I've read so far. Since the work began its publication in 2006, it is in itself full of numerous boring clichés that we see so often repeated in current novels, such that, also, the work is gigantic, precisely because it is very convoluted and having entire volumes, let's say. ... do not serve in any way for the development of the novel, but that I will give more details later. Also, we see a clear “inspiration” here, perhaps too strong, in Lovely Complex, a very old manga that is considered one of the first of the shoujo romance, which this same genre also impacts a lot here. Being negative points in my opinion, while many scenes are built on a shonen pattern, with a whole question of ecchi scenes and female characters being sexualized, scenes that tend towards drama are always extremely melodic, where there is always a certain weight, and a wealth of unnecessary details on the part of the narrator.

To better explain the point said earlier, Toradora! is rolled up, perhaps even unnecessarily. I don't think this is exactly a negative point, but I think it's important to explain it anyway. The speed with which things develop is always slow, but it is not necessarily monotonous, of course. There are entire volumes here that don't delve into the characters' development at all, and that maybe, if they were skipped, it wouldn't be so impactful. In the entire work, everything develops through “events”, so to speak, where this, this and that generate coincidences and more coincidences that deepen the characters as much as the novel and their relationship. Volume 5 is entirely an example of what I'm saying. In it, none of these “important events” take place, giving space to an entire volume focused entirely on humor, to entertain the reader with jokes.

BUT, as already said, Toradora! It is indeed very good, so this work is formed not only from negative points.

To start with the praise, I would say that the main point here would be the number of characters so captivating. As much as, by the impression, it is easy to hate them for the fact that many of them present stereotypes of common characters, they are much more interesting and well developed than it seems. It's actually easy to like them, since many of them have a huge charisma, which also comes from the humor of the work, and it's even easier to empathize with them as they are developed, especially by Taiga, for example, which starts as a very annoying stereotype of a tsundere, and ends up making you inevitably like her throughout the development of the novel. The protagonist's sad situations, for example, always make you like him. After all, he has a difficult life for being poor, and all the time he is surrounded by difficult decisions, where he always makes mistakes, but he learns from it. And of course, no one doesn't like Ami Kawashima.

Another thing worth mentioning here is the narration. I mentioned it as a negative point up there, but it's not just about bad things that it's made up of here. In fact, I like the way things are narrated precisely because they are different. Here, it is not one of the characters who narrates, but rather a narrator with an external point of view, which attracts me. Even so, things end up being narrated more from the protagonist's point of view, since his thoughts are always the ones exposed here, but this narration is precisely interesting because of how much it adds to the humorous scenes, and about how interesting it is to see the characters. facts that actually occurred as a reader, as an outsider who observes how things happen from above, not as the character himself.

One more positive point is about the humour. Honestly, I'm pretty boring when it comes to comedy when it comes to manga, novels, and anime, where I hardly see the fun in Toradora! it was indeed different. Quoting from here, it seems strange to say that a lot of text can have some kind of fun, but yes, it does. The way things are said and the narrator's comments really win over, and even when the scenes fail to be funny, the relaxed atmosphere always attracts, and generates curiosity to see what's next. Which also opens up another point here.

Also part of the narration, Toradora! at no time was it monotonous for me, coming from dramatic scenes or those with relaxed parts, inevitably they always brought me a good mood, or curiosity for what's to come next, inevitably entertaining me regardless of when.

Art also needs no introduction. Not that I think Yasu is the illustration master, or anything like that. He is a good illustrator, as are others, but what I mean is how his art, with very characteristic traits for being... cute, is like the window of Toradora!. Watching the anime, reading the novel, watching Joshiraku, inevitably makes you remember him, for having such a unique and characteristic trait, I end up seeing his art as the main representation of the work, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Toradora!.

I think that's it. In the end, yes, I highly recommend this novel. It has a lot of its negative points, and it's not necessarily the best thing I've ever read in my life, but I really like the work and I think it's worth the long time of those who were interested in the facts said in the review.

Thanks for reading to the end!

If I could be quite honest, the fact that there are no reviews here is understandable, since I think the volume was only published in Brazil, by itself, it's pretty bad, and it's hard to talk about these stories. My intention here is to give you some reasons why you shouldn't spend your time or money on this work, given how uninteresting it is, and apparently rushed, or by an author who... Let's get to the facts.

In short, this manga sucks. In the end, it is clearly understandable that this must have been one of the first works of an author, but even so this ... is far from being a justification for the fact that each story seems to have been invented in an interval of three minutes each, and with a narrative. lazy and not intriguing.
In the volume, there are exactly five very divergent stories in relation to their characters, themes, messages and narratives. All four of which are horrible and it's not hard to explain why. By themselves, they start with uninteresting themes, like a powerless protagonist in a family of heroes who save the world (?). It's a shallow story, without salt, made in a few minutes, and that ends without any purpose, since it doesn't send any kind of interesting message, it doesn't hold you to the narrative of the events and much less generates some interest from the reader for the characters, who also are completely forgettable.
Precisely, all these words are a good example of the whole book. Uninteresting stories, without any intriguing message, completely forgettable characters, added to a narrative that in no way holds you back.
The one-shot's only salvation here would be the penultimate story, titled “coyote”. She does start well, being the only one where you can feel any empathy whatsoever for the situation of the characters, since the protagonist has her job in a brothel, providing sexual services, and talking to one of her clients, she comments on her life. difficult at home and why she is there. This is a good example of a story that starts well, which already generates an interesting development in the protagonist, where you feel empathy for her situation, and having an outcome that truly expresses some message.
In short, the book is horrible. Of course, the quality of the pages and the cover properly equate to the price charged, but the content within the pages sucks, and it's certainly not worth your time.

It is a very short review, since it is a very short work, and the objective is to try to bring more reasons for interested people to bring more, that is, spoilers. I'll skim over a sentence or two, but nothing will get in the way of your further reading.

Commenting on Josee should always start by stating the obvious. There's nothing special here, it's a short, simple, melancholy novel that barely matches the standard of any cheap novel in its chapters.
This is a type of manga where the opinion of those who are there is never very divided, after all, everything is narrated in ... a brief way, and that does not avoid the pattern that we see directly in the novels. And that's the point. Josee manages to be interesting because it is just another work that narrates sad events, followed by much love and happiness for the characters. It is a typical manga for those who want a very simple romance narrative, but great in its way of being.
Josee to Tora talks about dreams, about a shy girl, insecure, limited by her disability, always being kept at home never, but with love for art and all that a maritime environment has to offer, even seen it.

It is about someone who has infinite desires and curiosities about the unknown, a dream to follow, but who feels unable to fulfill it because “not being able to climb the steps of a ladder”, but who finds himself saved by someone else.

Josee to Tora's brief narrative always focuses on making his concept of difficulties explicit. We all have dreams, but we feel incapable of realizing them for whatever reason, and that inevitably, both protagonists stumble, and think about giving up, which they just don't do because they have each other as motivation.
Josee is simple, cliché, and it sends a message that we've already gotten married to watching, but even so, the standardly melancholic narrative holds you, where you quickly empathize with the characters' situation, and hope for the best in the end.
It's a novel where all the time it chooses to show the melancholy of the characters, at the same time it presents how they run away from it only by deepening their relationship.

I actually absurdly recommend this manga, since I hope you don't expect anything revolutionary, but the abuse of the simple, but in such an interesting and brief way.

And here I am to do a review that will go unnoticed and is completely useless in a world where all the most useful reviews of the work on the site are provided by complete fanatics who value the work in an erratic way for me. Of course, there is the first and highest rated review, however, besides disagreeing a lot about what is said in it, it is impossible to say that it is not an exception within an average of 8.80 and the countless 10 when clicking on "more reviews" . Let's get to the facts.

I won't quote details about the work, about ... the story, I mean, about the synopsis, about how the arcs are, etc., since you've probably read countless others that have already convinced you to read the novel to have landed on this review.

If I could say briefly here and now, HakoMari is indeed interesting. I agree with some of the fanatics' points when they say about how creative and innovative the work is. It's a different read and one that has many of its good points, but of course, if it were perfect, mine clearly wouldn't be a 7 (which honestly almost drops to a 6). I don't dislike it, but I don't love it either. I'm pretty much the middle ground on this.


The main factor that is the main reason for the main problems of the novel is how the author is lost while writing. In many moments, it's as if Mikage Eiji is inventing part by part just AS he writes. The author is indeed someone very creative, and is definitely full of great ideas for how to create a fantasy world, but he fails miserably in many parts to convey those ideas in practice, possibly because he doesn't know how to organize them in his head.

The first arc, for example, already makes me incredibly curious about what lies ahead, just in the first few lines. And really the bow doesn't disappoint. While the narration in an amusing way solves many of the mysteries created so far, it simultaneously creates more and more and showing that this is indeed a fantasy world without limits.

The second arc is the opposite of the one mentioned above, and the main representation about the introduction. As he says in the afterword to the first volume, many projects had been rejected before, and it's as if he was surprised by HakoMari's approval and was putting in history the first ideas that came to mind in complete haste. The arc itself looks like a filler, being a boring arc, minimally developing the relationship of the two protagonists and with logic and meaningless explanations even after a great deal of explanations about how far this fantasy world could go. Skipping the second volume wouldn't make a difference in your reading, and it's an arc that made me want to read right there.

And, randomly, the third arc is like the first. Creative, curious as hell and very well done... ????

Furthermore, there are not so few moments where the story itself, contradicts some ideas, forgets some, or ends up randomly placing them in the story.

Finally, the reason I like the work so much, and that I would definitely not have any criticism, would be the end. The way in which a plot occurs, connecting everything to the first arc, justifying it by the title, man... it's absurd. I could easily cite it as one of the best endings I've ever seen. The most ironic thing about this is the author himself saying in the afterword of the penultimate volume about the issue of this ending being ready in his head for a while... In other words, what I mean is that the point that is completely perfect in the work come only from something he had already planned. The point of quoting all of this is: incredibly, everything that is great and awesome in the work comes from things the author had already planned, where it proves that if all the dedication was used at all times, I would more than agree with the grade , and the site reviews about the novel.

All this revolving around the novel was just to prolong the following question: Mikage Eiji is a great author...when he wants to be. HakoMari could easily be one of the best works within Japanese literature (considering the ones I've read), but it loses all that potential just for the sake of the author not being as genuinely devoted as he should at all times while writing. HakoMari, is, in fact, a waste for something that could be absurd.

Honestly, I have no idea why even after years there is still no review around here of a work that has a lot to say. So here I am for the first one, and perhaps the only one, unfortunately.

About the work, Morte goes from the beginning to the end of his narrative, always commenting, directly and metaphorically, on the future. About a world completely filled with misfortunes, where children who, knowing they contain a disease called Morte, which is completely unknown about its cause or a possible cure, which will inevitably cause them to commit suicide before reaching adulthood, they try to seek ... your own future in a dirty world, always denying the inevitable truth as much as possible.

Without spoilers, in the first volume we follow Sasha, a boy who was sold by his family to an orphanage called Doceo, a Morte center, which is what people with the disease are called. Morte, for me, has as its main asset since its first volume, a narrative extremely rich in details. From the beginning, it's as if you feel like you're in the character's own skin, where, indirectly, you start to understand every single detail of the personality of the one who narrates it, which is the case of Sasha. You, in a few pages, quickly understand what he is like, how he feels about his situation, and mainly, his point of view on Doceo. The way in which everything is told hasn't stopped fascinating me at all times in the work, progressing a little bit slowly, for always paying attention to clarifying some details.


Even secondary character development is not left out of this. Like the protagonist, the secondary ones also contain a very deep development, where everyone evolves together with the main character, always showing how the author manages to create and develop such human people. Each one gets incredible depth, being much more than you'd expect from a 3-volume novel.

The first volume, for example, never fails to show a dirty environment, where everyone there inevitably rendered for being in an outlaw and completely dismal place. The narration does not fail to express the suffering of the protagonists, to show that they are clearly cornered, while it does not stop creating more and more an incredible scenario about a mystery, not about the orphanage or wanting to create large plots to explode their mind, but only generate an absurd curiosity about how things progressed in a place where everything seems impossible.

In fact,Morte is a work a little different from the standard we see in the industry, being a work of mystery, romance, drama and suspense with extremely human people and well done at all times, from beginning to end. I would be lying if, for some reason, I dared to say that Morte is extremely innovative, or if I said that the novel is a diamond in the world of Japanese literary works. Morte in many moments is melodic, romanticizing things like a collective suicide attempt, or even a murder. In many parts, the characters' feelings are “expressed” in a way that could easily be associated with a Mexican soap opera, even managing to be boring in its dramatic way.

Naturally, I would have more to cite about positives as well as negatives about the novel, but my intention is just to introduce the novel to those 2 people who will read this review. Morte is not perfect. Is not it. But I could say that it is certainly worth your time for a short work, but different from many out there, as this novel is a common and classic example of a secondary work by an author who, as his fame was highlighted by another story (Fata Morgana), unfortunately ended up falling into limbo, even though it was such an interesting story. I recommend.