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maybe i'm just out of whack on my naruto knowledge, because god knows i won't read boruto, but this felt incredibly out of character.

sasuke is very unlikeable. the efforts they tried to put in for him doing cute things for sakura felt very forced and like he ultimately does not care about his family. the dialogue was incredibly boring, being almost entirely expotition all the time, and describing exactly what would happen moments before it happened. all of the twists were expected. i did not enjoy this at all from a story standpoint, nor a characterisation standpoint. the final chapter was also completely pointless ... and did nothing to further the story or develop the characters. the art is polished to a point where it becomes bland and uninteresting, though all modern naruto content suffers from this.

don't even get me started on the fucking dinosaurs. who genuinely thought that was a good idea?

I cannot possibly figure out who this series was intended for.

As a Naruto fan it feels like nothing more than a soulless way to continue the series with a popular character in order to get people to buy it. Obviously you can't go into something like this expecting high art, nor can you really expect anything remotely similar to the source media. However, that doesn't give it the pass to be as goddamn BORING as it was.

As someone who never got around to watching Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals when then was new, I had no idea what to expect with this. The ... humour is insanely childish, which was to be expected as Naruto isn't exactly the most mature series, nor do I expect a chibi-comedy manga based on it to be. But that's where my issues arise.

The art style is one thing. It's chibi, it's whatever. Clearly intended to appeal to children as the designs are cuter and smaller. But then the weird sexualisation of the characters and focus on jokes with them having their genitals on display is plain weird! I can't imagine most people would want their kids reading this, and I for one have no interest in seeing this as an adult.

There is an abundance of childish potty humour which is then sharply contrasted by constant sexual innuendo. Not the kind that would fly over a kids' head while still being funny to adults, just immature and juvenile, to the point where the kids won't get it and adults will be weirded out and uncomfortable with the fact that this is intended for an audience of children.

I cannot recommend this to anyone at all. The comedy isn't funny (especially given how hard they run the "do not mock the uchiha" joke into the ground immediately), the art is mediocre at best and there are at least 5 or so chapters dedicated to Japanese only Naruto events that happened half a decade ago, as well as some of the most dated internet memes you can imagine (there is a whole two page spread based on Sasuke doing the PPAP song). There is nothing of substance lost if you avoid this entirely.

If you're really desperately looking for Naruto content to read after finishing the original series, look elsewhere. Stick to the light novels.

So, I just read the 100th chapter and all I have to say is that Tougen Anki is about as generic as shounen gets. I can't feasibly imagine how this series has reached the 100 chapter mark, yet here we are.

STORY - 5/10
Boring. Very, very generic shounen arcs. Tragic backstories to make you feel bad for the good guys, completely unjustifiably evil villains for the sake of someone for them to fight.

ART - 5/10
Probably the best feature of the series. It's good albeit samey. Major case of same face syndrome with all the male characters, to the point where I actually cannot tell them apart ... sometimes. Again, it's just boring. Clothes, hands and weapons are drawn with a lot of detail, but when you're seeing the exact same poses over and over, and the majority of the characters wear the exact same outfit, it gets immensely repetitive.

CHARACTER - 3/10
Don't get me wrong, the characters are quite differentiated from one another and usually have their own unique backstory/reason for their powers, but how can I care about that when none of them are relatable whatsoever? Their stories are so generic that I can't empathise with any of them and when I can't even tell them apart by design, what else is there?

Don't even get me started on the female characters. There are minimal women in this series, and the few times they're shown to be relevant, they're drawn in this weird, almost fetishistic way - huge boobs, no waist, massive hips. They're there to be looked at, but they're so weirdly deformed that I can't imagine anyone even liking them for their designs, making their lack of personality even more egregious.

I can't even remember any of their names aside from the MC.

ENJOYMENT - 5/10
Now, this series can't be completely pointless if I've managed to read 100 chapters of it, but I think I'm borderline hate-reading at this point.

If you like formulaic shounen that's just like everything else out there but more mediocre, then this is the series for you.

This is my first review (and probably only review) for a series. It bothers how underrated this series is in the West because it deserves so much praise. All I can hope for with this review is more people hear of Golden Kamuy my beloved.

I first stepped into Golden Kamuy on a whim, choosing it almost entirely at random from my list of anime I had heard of but knew nothing of. Having watched the entire 3 seasons in the space of a couple weeks, I absolutely could not wait for more and I almost immediately ordered the first manga volume. My God, I'm so ... glad that I did. Over the course of the year, this series has become my all time favourite ever, and I'm going to tell you why it should be yours too.

STORY- 9/10
The story begins in a way that immediately hooks you and introduces you to our main character Immortal Sugimoto, who, at the same time as the reader, learns of the entire series' main driving plot point: the Ainu gold. Twenty-four prisoners of Abashiri are tattooed with a map pointing to its location. For myself, this is what did it. I couldn't help but want to read on, I had to know more about each and every one of these prisoners. You may think it might get quite repetitive, following the same basic formula of finding - and skinning - tattooed prisoners as they're located but no, each and every prisoner has a distinct personality and interesting story behind them. Overall, as the story has progressed, it keeps hooking me over and over again, with most chapters during important arcs ending on cliffhangers and plot twists to keep you coming back.

ART- 10/10
The art is phenomenal. Even now I taken aback by the detail in each and every panel. I cannot fathom how he does it, but Noda Satoru pumps out these chapters weekly! Countless double page spreads of scenery trick you into thinking that it's just a photograph, the detail is beyond insane and really fits with the atmosphere of the series. Animals and architecture look amazing too, again being incredibly detailed and with a high degree of realism, really putting you into the story as though you're there. My single gripe with the art is that sometimes the characters look a little out of place when the scenery is drawn realistically, as well as this, the size of the characters' ears has always bugged me but it's nothing to negate points for.

CHARACTER- 10/10
My lord, the characters. Each and every character is so full of personality. I don't think there is a single character who I think is poorly written. If you dislike, or even hate a character, that is intentional. I absolutely love how almost every character in the main cast is morally grey (dubiously) and switches sides to whichever suits their current goals. In my opinion, this is great, because it means you can't rest easy, as your favourite character could be betrayed by anyone at any moment, creating a great deal of tension. (Tsurumi is my favourite btw <3)

ENJOYMENT- 9/10
My score here is only lower than a 10 because some arcs (particularly earlier ones) feel a little all over the place with how many characters there are to keep track of, and this made it quite confusing for me as a new reader. As someone who isn't Japanese, and isn't particularly well versed on other country's histores, the setting seemed quite alien at first: late 1800s/early 1900s Japan. However, it's obvious that Noda has put countless hours into researching the details of this time period to get the exact intricacies correct and it really shows. Every time something is brought up that might not make sense to a Western viewer it is explained in detail. I could even argue that I have learnt more about history from this manga than I ever have in a class.

As an addendum, I read this manga mostly online via the Everyday Heroes scans. If you plan to read online, I greatly recommend this as the translators have put so much effort into making the series accessible for everyone, including explanations and further elaborations at the end of each chapter to explain and references that might have gone over your head.

OVERALL- 10/10
Golden Kamuy is truly amazing. I recommend it to everyone who ever talks to me about manga as I believe there's something there for everyone, be it characters, story or art. The current arc is going to be the final one and it's already so very hype, I hope the ending lives up to that. Give Golden Kamuy a try if you enjoy a Japanese setting or history in general.