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Heaven's Door is a collection of bizarre and trippy short stories from Keiichi Koike (Ultra Heaven), who I consider to be a very underrated Sci-Fi author.

The last few stories aren't as good as the earlier ones, nevertheless reading this one was a really good experience. Some of the stories also have references to the other stories written by the author.

The artwork and the panel structure was something I liked a lot, with plenty of detailing and cool scene angles.

If you are looking for a short Seinen, Sci-Fi, Psychological series with great art, then I highly recommend this one.

You lock up a man for 10 years, then release him all of a sudden, then play a psychological game with him to screw up his head as he tries to understand why this happened to him sums up Old Boy in a nutshell.

Boy, this manga was enjoyable. I had seen the critically acclaimed Korean live adaptation a year before reading this. What the manga excels at is character development, the dark and detailed artwork, the gradual build-up of suspense (which kinda felt similar to Naoki Urasawa's story telling style).

What the manga lacked was a better ending. The main reasons for the antagonist's motivations ... seemed too weak to justify his actions. This is where the movie surpasses the manga.

For me, the movie was much better than the manga, but even then I would recommend this one for people who like a nice thriller, action and psychological series with great art.

Lady Snowblood is a classic revenge story, written by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub, Golgo 13). In this story, the protagonist seeks vengeance from people who did wrong to her family and makes revenge the purpose of her life.

Its vibe is similar to Lone Wolf and Cub (a samurai manga that I highly recommend) with respect to its story progression, though not as epic or as memorable as the later's.

The art is well drawn. Characters were pretty forgettable and lacked development. Despite that I was invested in the story and did enjoy it. I am yet to see the live action 1973 ... adaptation.

This one is recommended for people who like reading classic manga's, and who like action, assassins, violence, and don't mind some nudity...

This review is served without spoilers but with loads of criticism.

Shokugeki is one of the more popular Shonen Jump Mangas at the moment. That gives us an idea where the Japanese Manga industry is going towards, which does worry me.

Shokugeki is a simple battle Shonen template follower with good artwork and fan-service to keep its young readers wanting more. It makes the main/important characters look like bad_asses during these so-called food battles and thus periodically try injecting some undeserved hype into the Fandom. I feel it has put its fans in a sort of an illusion that it is the best thing ever ... (look at other reviews) which is surely not the case.

It's a simple story of a kid who goes to a culinary school, with all the things that I have mentioned above. It's a battle Shonen so expect bad guys popping up from time to time for battles. The characters are not well developed. I hate the main character as the writers have given me no reason to like him, nor any of the characters in general.

The only thing good about this manga is its art, which is sad. The plot is non-existent.

This Manga uses fan service and food as bait which is pathetic. I started reading this as I am a connoisseur (of sorts) of good food and also was curious to see why this was becoming popular. And being a completionist is the only reason that's kept me from dropping this series. I want it to conclude properly and as soon as possible, and then I might give it an extra point.

I feel that this series has put its fans under the illusion that is great, which I beg to differ. Hopefully, this review provides my perspective on it.

For now, I'm gonna give it a 5


EDIT :
Screw being a completionist, I've got better things to do. Gonna drop this :D

No Spoilers!

Fire punch is quite a unique series as compared to the majority of mainstream Shonen manga's out there. It is very unconventional and I feel is probably misunderstood here in mal's community as being edgy and without substance, which is just not true.

The Manga is set in a post-apocalyptic / ice age setting with few people left alive. Few of the important characters of this series are very interesting. Life has become a struggle for survival and a number of important characters are on the brink of insanity. The futures for these characters seems grim, and the events that occur seem crazy. Amongst ... all this, there's also some interesting commentary on religion and beliefs as well.

The protagonist seeks revenge for the tragedy that he faced, and the story goes on with this as his main motivation. The artwork is good with sufficient detailing and well-drawn scenes.

Overall for me, this series is one of the better shonen series in recent times. I love series with great art and that have enough uniqueness to distinguish themselves from the rest. In a market where most shonen's follow similar templates, this one is refreshing. Looking forward to reading more from Tatsuki Fujimoto. I'm gonna give Fire Punch an 8.

I am a Hero in Osaka is a side story of I am a Hero, which is one of my favourite Sci-Fi Horror Mangas of recent times. I was reluctant to read this because I didn't want my experience or enjoyment of I am a Hero to degrade in any way. Eventually, I started it and realized that this manga wasn't bad at all.

Story:
It represents its own story and events, not related to any of the characters of the main Manga. It depicts the story of some other ordinary guy, this time in Osaka and his girlfriend who is stranded in a plane ... at the airport. The ZQN epidemic has just started, the city was going freaking crazy, and it is upon him to save his girl and be her Hero. The story isn't unique in any way. However, I find it good enough for being a side story.

Art and Characters:
The art was not bad. Zombies were not as creepy as in the parent series. The Manga art was nice and not very inferior to the main series.
The amount of character development was also good considering that it has only one volume.

This Manga is recommended for those who liked the main series.