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Jun 11, 2019
The length requirement makes it hard to review stories like this one, where there just isn't much to say about them.
Story: sometimes, a story is best told in the span of one chapter, this is one such case. There's an intricate story of 40 chapters contained in this handful of pages.
Art: the art is this bizarre 80s style (think mullets and suits with shoulder pads), quite different and unique compared to the mainstream.
Character: there is enough narration to have a good understanding of all the characters and their motives by the end of the story.
Enjoyment: I found it to be a story better
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than most. I suppose part of the beauty of the one-shot format is that it doesn't drag on for too long so it can't fall into the traps of longer format stories; the fact that there's no room for unnecessary details and story arcs means that it is destined to be a suspenseful ride through the entire story, if the author is competent (she is).
Overall: 8
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 13, 2019
Story: 9. The story centers around a group of high school students who are drafted into the army, given some extremely basic infantry training and then sent off to fight in the ongoing war. As far as realism goes, it goes about as well as you might expect from a random group of students with next to no training. The story is thrilling, psychological, and successfully relates the struggles of these teenagers.
Art:10. I really liked the art, the facial expressions are on point, the action sequences all have lines and blur in the right places, the art is good. This smart use of blur that
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you see here is like a budget version of Miura's woodcut-like insane line count and it totally works, it's really well done.
Characters: 8. While their personalities and relationships are unique and enjoyable, they can be difficult to tell apart at times.
Enjoyment: 9. I love stories that keep it realistic and damn, that basic training arc hit close to home... It's all true and much worse in reality.
For someone on the thinner and/or smaller side, this is what it's like: a cold war era battle rifle (new ones aren't that much lighter) is ridiculously heavy and essentially impossible to fire accurately, the combat gear is painfully heavy in standard configuration (it's heavy and uncomfortable even when you leave most stuff in your locker), the main pack simply contains too much stuff to reasonably carry all at once (you're looking at like 30 kg strapped to your back on top of the 15kg combat gear and 4-5 kg gun; every time I had to hike in full gear, I made it about 2 km before the pack managed to collapse my lungs to 20% capacity for the rest of the hike; the final hike was about 10 with full gear and 20 in combat gear, my knees were permanently damaged and I'd say I'm lucky not be limping). These kids get a taste of that as well.
What I would have liked is more emphasis on how horrific conscription, what kind of depressing, dark torture it is for some. It's no secret that many young men in countries where conscription is in effect either avoid it, kill themselves or go on a rampage, not to mention those who suffer in silence and leave traumatized and broken. I'm not even referring to a war here, wars are even worse than peace-time indentured servitude such as this. It's no joke when you're waking up up to 5 times a night in some delirious panic mode, totally convinced, for example, that the drill sergeant really wants to inspect your mess kit at 2:30 in the morning or that you really need to go on patrol even though the previous shift hasn't alerted you, only to realize half way through getting your pack out of your locker or half way through putting your boots on that it's the middle of the night and everyone else is asleep and that you just exited an acute state of insanity. You're actually losing it, for real, and the next day, your whole platoon is off to the firing range.
As for the later parts where they go to war, as I said before, it's a thrill.
Overall: 9. I'd totally recommend this to anyone who is into a war story, a psychological story, a bit of sci-fi, etc.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 6, 2019
Art: 9 - This manga has better art than most I've read. The artist has a unique touch that could work well in a different genre, I especially liked how well she managed to fit unexpected imagery into some of the dream sequences. Characters look great, more or less easy to tell apart. Facial expressions, I think the characters blush way too much. It's like an on-off switch and it feels excessive. As someone who knows next to nothing about Japanese culture and people, their actions and mannerisms sometimes perplex me, maybe they really are that neurotic and shouty in everyday situations, I wouldn't know.
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Environments are not so bad that they stand out yet not so good that they stand out, I'd say they lean toward good in the end.
Characters: 9 - You know you're dealing with good characters when they create strong reactions in you. I'll preface this and the other sections with a short summary of my own views - I am strongly against casual sex and "relationships" and serial monogamy. And someone who engages in such behaviour? That's not someone you associate with or cherish or love, that's something you erase from your life. Let them flounder in their self-made misery, wondering what they did wrong. Why did I add this off topic comment? Because this story is full of such characters; I don't think I can respect a single one of them or their choices and that's what makes them good, because they're here to show what path is not worth taking. Bad choices? Check. Horrific coping mechanisms? Check. Next to no personal development? Check (I wouldn't say this is poor character design since you aren't going to have much character development as you're circling the drain). The cast is like a perfect storm of damaged and misguided/unguided people, a warning more than anything.
Story: The story fluctuates between an 8 to a sickening sub-5. At first I kind of understood that it could be possible that people in dark places could get into situations like this and it stayed like that for a good third of the story. I thought, maybe this could really go somewhere, map some uncharted territory, go at the oversaturated romance genre from a new angle. After that, though, it just got more and more predictable as I got to know the characters. And what do they do exactly? I'ma keep it real with you chief, this manga is one step from hentai. If anything, by the end you should be closer to understanding why casual sex and sexual behaviour, even between friends and on mutually understood conditions is a terrible idea. If you think you can make the jump to treating something as ancient, primal and powerful as physical intimacy like you would treat thirst or hunger through the use of your big homo sapiens brain then prepare to be corrected by the forces that made your existence a possibility. All I'm saying is that it isn't a coincidence that the characters don't get any better no matter how many times they have emotionless sex with each other.
I'm not even going to mention the surprise, like who do you have to be to do something like that, I cannot understand, it's like they're a construct or a deliberate contradiction against everything logical, sane and human. If I didn't know any better I'd think most of the characters are the author's self-inserts and this arc is wish fulfillment but that's just a gut feeling.
Enjoyment: 6. Again, a strong start that slowly loses steam as the story progresses, regressing into frankly the forgettable 20 page one-shot romance territory by the end of it. I have to say, it's not repetitive or boring, it kept me engaged throughout the story.
Overall: 6. It could have gotten a better rating but I simply cannot forgive the author for wrenching something that could have been good into something so bizarrely bad and anticlimactic (heh).
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 9, 2019
Story: 8/10 - the story gets kind of repetitive. Most of the story revolves around the history of a particular cocktail or liquor, what it means to be a bartender and the various troubles adults face. Little to no other topics are covered. Still, I found the story to be enjoyable.
Art: 8/10 - Nagatomo's art is kinda goofy at times when it comes to the characters. The main male characters all have detailed faces but the other characters have a case of the same face syndrome, especially the women who he loves to draw with that peculiar fish-like expression :D. Overall, I like his
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style but the character designs could be better, at times I honestly can't tell if I'm seeing a new character or someone who has appeared in a previous chapter.
Character: 7/10 - Bartender is a really mellow and calm story and because of that, character development moves at a snail's pace. This can be forgiven in a way, if one assumes the point of the story is to talk about drinks and people's troubles but I feel like these almost static characters are not enough to carry the story forward to such a length. Many main characters become soft versions of the Mary/Gary Sue because of this reason, nothing ever seems to go wrong for them, they just make passing references to how difficult their life apparently is.
Enjoyment: 9/10 - I liked it.
Overall: 9/10 - I started off with a 10 but as the series went on, I was left thirsty for more, more character development, a deeper exploration of the psyche and so on. For learning about cocktails, this would be a 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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