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"Berserk" is a beautifully written story about pain, growth, friendship, all the really key parts of being alive. That is, until about chapter 200. Maybe even earlier. Lets start at the beginning: Guts' introduction to the reader is shit. really shit. I struggled to get through the first 15 chapters because it seemed pointless, and I thought as a reader of many manga that we would only receive his backstory through flashbacks intermittently like other manga. However, after the first 15 chapters, where we are immediately introduced to the horrific nature of the world the story takes place in, it picks up. We are introduced to Guts once again as a younger version of himself.

This introduction to his character is probably the best pacing I have ever read for a character introduction. Guts is fleshed out with flaws, quirks, and everything needed to have a personality in maybe 5 chapters. Then the Golden Arc begins. The golden arc is probably my favorite manga arc of all time at this moment. It has so many unique lessons, character interactions, and unique subplots. Each character is fun and interesting. The story progresses extremely fast and little to no cliches. Over the course of the first 200 chapters, so much happens.

Then it goes to shit. With just one thread left at the end of the arc, the pacing jumps off a cliff like the lemmings from BBC. Nothing useful happens for the next 30 or so chapters. Even that one thread of plot left isn't touched on at all for that time. Everything that happens is irrelevant, and the characters (of which there are few) in this section are flat-out boring. Then, the thread is picked up again. A few very unique characters fill the void ever so slightly, the pacing picks up, villains exist again. New threads pop up.

We witness a second pick up in the story, things happen at lightning speed, a whole mini-climax occurs, there's many threads left after this one. Characters are back, Guts is in pain, lots of change in the story very quickly. Hope comes back to the reader. You believe that there is lots left in the story, things to explore, mysteries that are still hanging from the 200th chapter.

Then it once again goes to shit. Over the course of the next 100 chapters, almost nothing worthwhile happens. A few characters become involved in the main storyline, but none of them are as good as the Golden Arc characters. The author recycles impactful events from previous arcs, only with different characters and less stakes. In the Golden Arc, characters face real danger, and many don't make it through. No important characters die between the 200th and 375th chapter. Not a single one. The stakes, once very real, are almost nonexistent. It becomes a very basic shonen, with highly repetitive cycles of monsters and battles.

I love the first 200 chapters of Berserk. It is truly a whirlwind of event after event, and even after 30 years it still holds up. However, I think the peak of berserk was far too high for the story to continue.

R.I.P. Kentaro Miura, a great storyteller.

"Your Lie in April" is a genuinely good dramatic teenage romance show. I liked it because the characters had interesting backgrounds and emotional depth. I also tend to like shows with a lot of sadness, and this one had tons of it. It mixed the romance and the edginess in just the right amounts for me, so I had a great time.

"Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is probably the most visually stunning show I have watched in the grungy, edgy zone. It has beautiful character design, absolutely phenomenal art, and also an insane plot. The show didn't get boring at all, it was just the right length and every minute was important. None of that subtle character growth in the longer shows, every minute here was packed with overt and strong change and action.

Personally really like the edgy cyber punk aesthetic as well, so this was great to watch.

"Akira" is a gripping, edgy, cyberpunk-esque show with such an amazing feel to it. It might be the retro art and just general old-timeyness that's drawing me in, but it was just so so good to watch, even the creepy scenes. Theres a very long buildup, almost half the movie is just buildup without explanation, and it actually leaves a lot to be explained after the movie, but it was just so good and so heart-wrenching.

The characters tend to be really good in this show. I liked the main character kaneda, the main villain tetsuo, and also tetsuo's girlfriend. They all had really interesting story and I thought each of them had really good development throughout.

Definitely worth a watch if you liked cyberpunk edgerunners and NGE.

"Heavenly Delusions" is a very creepy yet fun show about a lot of different things. It has aspects of Promised neverland, with a school of children trapped behind walls and monsters outside those walls, while also being a kind of fun adventure. The two worlds collide in more ways than one, and a lot of references are subtly made about each other.

It also has very good villains and heroes, as many a time the person who is said to be bad is actually good, and the person who is said to be good is very very bad.

Great show, great pacing, had me gripping my seat. Wonderful art as well.

"Insomniacs after Dark" is a very chill, slow rom-com about two high schoolers with insomnia. I liked it a lot because the premise left little complexity that needed to be understood, and I didn't need to pay too much attention to catch what was happening. I rated it a 6 because the characters were alright and the plot was also okay, but the emotional moments were not super deep and it was generally pretty shallow. It's important to note that a simple show like this is great to watch, but it just doesn't have a lasting impact on me. Art was pretty cool, also the MMC's hobby of photography matched my own, which was fun.

"Vinland Saga" is a dramatic Viking story, complete with honor and morally challenging themes. The main character's struggles with revenge and the constant cycle of death around him make the show intriguing and worth a watch. However, I felt that there was a lot of filler time involved, which although it helped build deeper connections with the characters, took far too long to keep me super engaged. The second season lost a lot of the enjoyment for me, especially because it stopped being a viking/marauder show, and became more of a wounded slave show. It definitely left me with strong moral ideas, but the ending of the second season and overall the second season made me rate the show a lot lower than otherwise.

"About if I die as a discarded virgin" is a relatively short manga about a dude who gets killed by his virgin best friend out of jealousy. Lowkey, the entire manga was pretty shittily drawn so IMO could be a lot better with better art. However, the plot was fantastic, the characters were fun, and I liked the storyline. The conclusion is also quite good, so I gave it an 8 because it still had a few quirks that could be fixed.

"I Sold my Life for 10000 yen per year" is an emotional journey. tbh it hits hard, fast, and doesn't try to fill up time, which IMO makes a great manga. The emotional connection between the two characters grows fluidly and naturally even with the very short time, and the last chapter + its half chapter offer a great ending to a great story. Made me feel very strongly empathetic with the characters as well.