Back to redbubbles29's Profile redbubbles29's Profile

A mix of John Wick and old-school Jackie Chan. Sakamoto Days is exciting, stylish, and hardboiled.

The story starts slow, with mostly daily hijinx surrounding the titular character as a retired assassin. However, the story quickly developed into exploring the underworld and crime syndicates at war. What is interesting is, that the main character himself is not centered around this conflict, but still he involves himself in order to maintain his peaceful life and the people he loves. In that, he appears almost like a force that suddenly would appear in the heat of battle to tip the scale to the good guy's favor.

The main character ... aside, the series is filled with colorful and interesting supporting characters. Each with a unique fighting style and personality that gets their spotlight. In that regard, the fighting is one of the best part of this series. It consistently treats you with action set pieces that go over the top in a good way. This is supported by its world-building. The manga created a world where the assassin is such a known thing that common folks would appear to be nonchalant to all the destruction happening around them. This made the spotlight never leave the giant explosion and skyscraper-slashing action that dominates the page.

Overall, it's another action-filled platter that will leave you craving for more.

Jujutsu Kaisen is fast and exciting.

It abandons a lot of typical shonen tropes and plot points in favor of cool fights and exponentially escalating stakes. This serves as a double edged sword.

On one hand, it feels refreshing to see a series that doesn't drag itself through dull moments and just gets straight to the point. Skipping to the good stuff, so to speak. And it just happened that the good stuff is great action set pieces where characters with unique sets of power can flex their power, skills, and wits.

Speaking of which, the power system in this series is very weak. It's basically just whatever ... goes. While each character has their own set of rules of what they can and can't do, it doesn't have a structure that governs the power system of all characters. Except for a very few skills that everyone can learn, a lot of the powers that really matter are inherited and unique to an individual. So if you were born with crap power, you're screwed. Furthermore, even when a character's power has a set of rules that dictates what they can't do, a lot of these rules are revealed when it is convenient to the plot, without any setup.

Now on the other edge of the aforementioned sword, skipping through the dull moments made this series suffer in its character writing and development. If you are someone who looks for character interactions that are not fighting, you will be greatly disappointed. But what this series made up for what it lacks in that regard is its ability to write distinct personalities for each of its characters. Each character's personality stands out and takes center stage almost as pronouncedly as their power. This will make you easily latch onto a character in no time. And with each one of them having a very distinct personality, there's a character for everyone.

Now this review might imply that this series is more style over substance. And I cannot say that you're wrong. But that style is nothing like any other manga could give you, so even that is enough reason for you to stick around, just to be showered by the spectacles.

You know how hit movies often have unnecessary, cash-grab sequels? this is what this manga feels like.

Ass pull after ass pull that are not only made the story feels without stakes but also retroactively ruined plot points from Kengan Ashura. Plot twists are given so generously without any setup, it might as well just be called a plot hole instead. They try to do everything to make a character look cooler except actually making them involved in an entertaining and intense battle and giving them fun dynamics with one another. This is primarily due to this series' heavier focus on the underground thriller rather than ... the sports combat aspect of it. Well, it never had great writing in Kengan Ashura, but at least it is great in the latter aspect. The writing in this series seems to be worsened.

But hey, it's always fun to meet old characters again. So perhaps you might want to stick around just for that.

It's another gory revenger store that seems to be coming out a lot lately. If you're familiar with the trope, you already know the drill: kid got bullied, kid killed their bullies one by one.

Honestly, even when they extend the story through time skips in later arcs, it is still a rehash. If there's anything to sit through in this manga, it's definitely the kills. Just like slasher movies, they thrive whenever the MC escalates on how he would go about his revenge. And it drags whenever it tries to act like it has a real plot. The plot is just there to give the ... MC more angst and more reason to take revenge.

If you love gory manga, you'll love to see how inventive and squirmish some of the kills are here. However, that's not going to always be the case as it (unfortunately) tries to be more story-focused in later chapters.

This is a manga about boxing. And I meant that to a fault. It's not going to hit you with some drama, crazy twists and turns, or philosophical questions. It's strictly about boxing. And I'm not just talking about the MC, although a lot of the plot naturally involves him, but every boxer character gets their own spotlight and even a whole arc dedicated to their match. Even the supporting aspects of boxing such as the gym, trainer, corner, and media were explored.

That being said, after 1000+ chapters and ongoing, it does get very repetitive. Just like a real sport would, it doesn't get any ... farther than the cycle of training, match, win/defeat, and repeat. The most definition you could get is when a character gets an injury and has to fight through recovery, but that's it. So the key to making a sports series like this is how making each cycle entertaining. Of course with how many fights have been written in this series, not all of them will be good. That's just statistics at this point. But when it gets good, or when it takes turn to cover a character that you love, then it will be a treat.

Through its long run, however, the series still maintains its core thesis: the power of hard work and perseverance. And if that is not the quintessential core of a sports series, I don't know what would be.

From the creator of Jagaan and As the God's Will, comes another death game story. The only difference is, that you are not betting on your life, but your football career. Now this might sound ridiculous, but I remember starting this series during the final year of university, having your dream career pretty much being killed when you are still young sounds scarier than death, lol.

But you don't have to be in the same shoes to empathize with them, as the manga will show you through its character writing how hell-bent and ambitious these boys are in this sport. You can't help but buy into ... the outlandish concept of soccer battle royale.

Coming from a horror manga author, this series is great in building tension. At its best, you'll be waiting each week for new chapters, clenching to see if your faves will win or score a goal. In that, it succeeds in achieving what a sports story should do, evoking the exciting feeling of watching real sport.

A moe slice of life with a spice of horror.

This series is carried on the back of the titular character. Let's not get anything twisted here, this series is about cute girls doing cute things. It just so happened that the cute thing is supernatural encounters and being scared to tears. And the series is at its strongest when they are committing to that slice-of-life bit. It tries to set up pieces for a longer narrative at the moment, but they don't seem to click yet. And the plot that we have right now is unfortunately not as entertaining as the more "mundane" stories.

A music series fused with high school drama reminiscence of Hibike Euphonium.

In terms of visuals, the series is in no way lacking. It is able to depict musicality through dynamic poses, character reactions, and illustration. It also has a very unique paneling. Each page feels like a collage of scenes stacked on top of each other to highlight little details of the settings and character reactions. You will see however that the art style and gorgeous character design are what carry this manga.

In terms of story, it is mostly a cliche high school drama. Very tropey and lacks originality. And in terms of character, the ... MC of the series is the definition of Gary Stu/Mary Sue. The guy not only has a sad back story and a lot of angst, he is also a genius, can do no wrong, loves his mom, and every other girl will have a doki-doki moment after spending some time with him. But hey, Mary Sue story is fun to read sometime just so we can root for the OTP. If that's your thing, do give this story a try!

The series takes the trope of a man out of time into a setting that feels very grounded. Even harder topics like cannibalism is never treated as shock value, but rather with humility. It also crafted a post-apocalyptic future that feels like it might as well could happen in our world. The world around it is barren and cold, and the descendants of the survivors are written as people with a culture that has evolved through centuries.

However, the main character as it is right now is the weakest part of this manga. A man over his head with his fragile masculinity that cannot back up ... his own conviction most of the time; looking down on the "savagery" of the people who have survived the post-apocalyptic future for years. With how the MC is written, it reeks of a savior complex and colonizer that tries to imbue their wisdom towards the "savage men". And the manga almost constantly frames him as the one in the right; the "civilized man" so to speak, in a time where that word no longer has the same definition as our time.

Perhaps there is hope for character development in the future. But as it stands, for now, I wouldn't hope much.

A unique show that takes a food series and gives it a fantastical twist.

Art style is perhaps the most important aspect of both a fantasy series and a food series. And this show nails it. Not only does it always serve you delicious-looking food you can taste straight from the screen, but it also sports some of the most gorgeous character designs. While certainly not unique or deviates from the genre, the design for all the different monsters and races feels inspired and meshes well with each other, so nothing looks out of place.

If you're a manga reader, however, I can't say that this series ... will give you more than what the manga already served you. If you're an anime-only watcher, I recommend you to stick around, as this series has way more to offer than what it currently has.