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REALLY fascinating manga.

Basically about the genius neurosurgeon Tenma who choose duty over hospital politics and decides to save a young child shot in the head over the famous celebrity. Tenma loses his job because of this and worse... the boy he saves grows up to be a crazed serial killer! WHAT.

Lots of twists and turns and increeeedibly addictive. Read all of it in about 2 days. Ending leaves a lot to interpretation, which was a nice touch for a manga that was so morally ambiguous throughout. Writing is very tight; sometimes some threads of the story seem ... unconnected and you forget about them until they come together so perfectly and you find yourself going back to reread stuff. Masterful.

One of the things I kept thinking about while reading was: Monsters are strong and they'll kill and kill, but a monster cannot kill a monster. Only a human can kill a monster. So the human cannot lose himself to his emotions and descend into his beastly/monstrous side if he wants to right the situation. It was fascinating watching Tenma struggle with this; he's such an awesome character.

Intense, psychological, deep-thinking manga.

Really, really enjoyed this one; finished it all in about two days.

Seiichiro Kitano has the heart of an angel but the face of a demon. So basically he's this really, really, really nice guy who is always thinking about other people but because of his appearance (I think they basically made him out to be an albino and people called him Devil-san, etc, etc), everyone is scared of him and think he's a crazy heroin addict.

This makes for some hilarious shenanigans, like when Kitano gets himself into crazy misunderstandings. There are too many to mention, but some of my ... favorites are when he chases people to give them back their stuff and they run away or when someone punches him he tries to think hard about why he might have made that person upset. Watching people react to Kitano's face never ever gets old!! I always felt bad for him but it was HILARIOUS each time. I know he's supposed to be this scary dude, but I found him adorable from almost the first chapter.

It's also so amusing and wonderful how all the characters around him gradually change their minds about him. Such great friendship in this story! It's really touching how all the side characters were enemies or antagonists in the beginning but were brought together in friendship after their encounter with Kitano. The art remains pretty bad throughout the whole series, but the writing is solid throughout. Very, very enjoyable.

So, I saw the (fantastic) movie first, then read the (entertaining) book, and now I've read the manga.

Everyone knows the story so no need for me to waste your time lol.

Now, I really like the story and concept of Battle Royale, but the manga was ... actually pretty gross lol. Mitsuko was such a bamf in the movie and the book, but somehow in the manga, she was just really gross and blergh. Too sensationalist and exhibitionist. I knew she had issues, but... I don't know, she was too much in the manga. On the other ... hand, Takako Chigusa was awesome. She was played by Chiaki Kuriyama in the movie (loved her), but the Chigusa in the manga was this absolute bombshell. Also the guys in the manga were pretty great and came off better than they did in either the book or movie. Especially Shinji.

I guess for completeness you could read the manga, but sticking with just the movie and book would be a perfectly good option too. Sorry, you guys. I really wanted to like the manga too.

Who doesn't love a music-based slice of life manga? I always find manga about music so fascinating... I think it's hard to bring that music to life in written word and pictures, but Beck manages to do it (although I now think I have to check out the anime so I can ear this music that's leaving everyone so awestruck). Plus, this is a band manga. Yay bands!

Premise: Loser kid Koyuki meets guitarist extraordinaire Ryuusuke and then gets sucked into the world of music. It's neat to see Koyuki's progression from loser kid to rocking musician. Kind of reminded ... me of "Almost Famous". I felt myself liking it more and more as I read through it and the ending was just so perfect, I sighed happily. The performances, especially near the end, were .... just incredible. So satisfying.

I actually really want to find another manga just like it. I love stories about bands, the journeys they take, the adventures they go on, the memories they make. Read this! It's amazing.

Extremely addictive. Make sure you have all 12 volumes ready for the reading before you start! I literally could not put this down.

A caveat that I saw the live action movies before I read the manga. (I believe the first movie is covered entirely in the first 3 volumes.) The story is quite different in those two mediums. I liked how they did the fiancee thing better in the movie, but there are also a lot of things I liked more in the manga... basically way more elaborate. The thinking behind this manga is just genius. ... I could just be a nerd, but I get so excited when L and Light reason and talk their way through stuff. It's deep, thoughtful stuff too, but despite it being talky at times, it never weighs down or slows the story (Liar Game has this problem). It's thrilling!!

So with so many great things to say, why a 9 only? If this manga ended in volume 7, it would have literally been an absolutely perfect manga that would be a clear 10/10. Gonna stop before I give anything else away. But even with Vol. 8-12, it's still a very solid read and one I would definitely recommend.

Nothing but superlatives across the board. I would give this series a 100 if the site let me.

It's probably one of the most interesting and deep manga I have read so far. It's fascinating, the interplay of good and evil and the decisions people have to make as they walk between those extremes.

I think most of the characters are super likable (especially Ed Elric and Roy Mustang!) and even when they're not, they're at least interesting. The sins (Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Lust, etc) are so damn interesting. Art is fantastic. All the characters look DIFFERENT and all the ... fighting scenes are well down.

Another thing I'm impressed with is how TIGHT the writing is. Not a single wasted page and a story that was very clearly developed with a ton of thought and planning. As I read through the manga, I kept going back to previous chapters and seeing old scenes in a new light going, "Ah! So THAT's what that was!" Some of it blew my mind, I'm serious. The ending was just so perfect, it was EPIC. Just the way that everything came together, ahhhh. Story is so good and complex that I've re-read it a bunch of times and came out appreciating something new each time.

It's a perfect story. Lots of complex themes. And also despite how dark this story really is (I mean, there's stuff like genocide...), there are many funny moments. They mostly come from Mustang and his crew or Mustang fighting with Ed or Ed's complex about his height haha.

As far as completed manga go, this one is my favorite so far. It's hard to reach this level of perfection in manga, but this one does it. I give it my highest recommendation. (Also the anime FMA: Brotherhood follows the manga very closely and is basically AMAZING. Watch it!!)

HILARIOUS. Witty and well-written.

It's episodic, mostly, but has that awesome story of Gintama's past running through the entire thing (and I actually wish the mangaka would focus more on that because it's fascinating and the best arcs are always the ones that elaborate his past a little more). Super funny and great use of gags. There's even like four chapters devoted to people getting trapped on the toilet without toilet paper! HAHAHA! It was ingenious. Although this manga deals with samurai and shinsengumi and aliens and other mythical creatures, it's so refreshing and honestly AWESOME to throw all of ... those characters into a situation as seemingly trivial and mundane as getting stuck on the toilet without paper.

Super funny and all the characters are so damn likable. Gintoki and Hijikata are my faves, but I love the whole crew. Some characters are definitely better developed than others, but with the series being as long as it is now, the mangaka has had time to flesh out these characters. Actually some of my favorite arcs revolve around the supporting characters. The Madao arc and Mitsuba arc come to mind. Both of those arcs made me CRY! In a gag manga! WHAT.

I think some people may be put off by the episodic nature of the manga and the fact that it can get so random, but this is a gag manga at heart. And the gags are usually really funny and I love them! But despite me saying this, the absolute best stories to me are the more serious arcs. Benizakura is still my favorite, although the Yoshiwara arc comes very close cause we get Tsukuyo and Kagura/Kamui. The current arc regarding the corrupt Shogun Sadasada is soooooooooo good. I love when Gintama gets serious!

Very enjoyable series and one I always look forward to reading. (The anime is also fantastic. Great voice acting!!!)

This is the first review for this series?! It can't be :(. It's so good!!!

I think everyone would enjoy this manga, but especially if you're in a medical profession. I'm a EM resident right now and there are so many things that I think "oh man, that's so true..." --- like being harrassed by attendings and not wanting to screw up. I just wish I had Teru's smarts and confidence!

He's a surgeon just out of med school. He's clumsy and people wonder why he's a doctor (and his attendings give him a hard time)... but his father was ... a genius surgeon (called a godhand because of his skills) whose last deed was to save his son's life. Also a bit shounen-y, but very enjoyable because Teru is SUCH a likable character... like Mikoto from "Saijou no Meii". There are great (and well researched) medical cases too. And the story can get thrilling. Even beyond all the medicine stuff, just seeing someone as likable as Teru struggle to do his best and overcome the scrutiny... that makes for a great story. We can all relate to that!

I wish someone could continue scanlating this one. It's a really good series.

I've already seen the drama (and loved it, well Gokusen 1 at least with its glorious Shinkumi and amazing Nakama Yukie/Matsujun chemistry), so I thought I'd read the manga too.

The art is ... LOL, but the story is good. It's a teeny bit repetitive with Yankumi always saving the day, saving the delinquents of her class from troubled paths, beating down all the gangsters, etc, but it's still a fun read no matter how repetitive. There's more Shinkumi development in the manga than the drama, which I enjoyed very much. I don't care how scandalous it is; the Shinkumi is the best ... part about Gokusen, imo. Love the two lead characters, the way they antagonize and still care for each other.

The art never really gets better, although it's quite charming that it's so simple. The ending was perfect though... JUST WHAT I WANTED! Now I need a sequel!

If you are a history buff or travel buff or you just enjoy REALLY FUNNY manga, you will enjoy this. I am from the States and I travel a lot so it's interesting to me to see how people perceive us Americans. It's also interesting because during my travels, I tend to develop stereotypes of each country in my head. Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not mean this in a bad or malicious way, but rather in the playful way that Hetalia seems to capitalize on.

Honestly, a lot of the stereotypes are really spot on a kind of ... lovable... like America being really boastful and talking with his mouth full, Britain's uppity demeanor and the love/hate relationship with America, Russia and his violent tendencies, Japan and his politeness and need to apologize before speaking, Italy and his "I'll tell you everything just don't hit me", Austria and his disdain for everything, Canada being ignored, Korea and his obsession with k-dramas, etc. HAHAHAHA! The first time I read volume 1, I was literally in tears thinking about how spot on all the stereotypes were. All the characters are so cutely drawn too. Just adorable.

Hetalia also takes an interesting look at history! I have certainly learned a few things from this manga and it has also interested me enough that I look up stuff. And I was never even a big history buff in school.

Fun, educational, and adorable; what more could I ask for!