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Where do I even begin... Berserk is a hero to manga as a whole. It is where the bar lies; there is simply nothing else out there that surpasses it. Every other panel belongs in a museum. Kentaru Miura is a borderline DEMIGOD when it comes to storytelling and art.

Seriously, if you had 1 last thing to do before you died, you would want it to be to read Berserk. It is truly otherworldly. JUST WOW. You are missing out if you haven't read every last chapter, even if you've seen the animes. Words cannot describe fam.

Let us pause for a moment and ... reflect - what exactly are you doing with your life? Well stop. Just stop what you're doing right now, and go read this legendary legend among legends.

Oh, you've already seen the animes? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHHHAHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHAH. NO. YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SHIT. THE MANGA IS 1000000000000000000000000000*error error there is not a number big enough* TIMES BETTER THAN THE ANIMES (though the first season from the 90's is definitely worth a watch, since the studio who made it actually knew what they were doing). But quite frankly, there is just no reason to NOT experience BERSERK in it's most pure and untainted form.

Please... this is actually you from the future trying to give your younger self some serious advice. Go read Berserk. Go breathe Berserk. Go eat Berserk. Go sleep Berserk. Life is too short to do otherwise.

I'm just going to say it - I absolutely adored this short series. There is just so much to like about it. I just finished reading a different manga that didn't quite meet my expectations (by the same publisher as well), but reading this afterwards was like a breath of fresh air.

Trust me, there are a lot of ways they could have gone wrong with this... but they absolutely nailed it on the head with the characters, story, and art. It's so cute and clever and funny that the fan service feels like a side show. Here's the thing about the fan service in ... this series - it's blatantly there but it's also far from pandery and actually makes sense with the story; hence why I think it's more cutesy and entertaining than anything. You don't have massively over-sized titties flopping around everywhere, it's just a bunch of cute girls who are helping each other merge into society after turning from animal into human, therefore learning things like bathing and swimming are naturally a part of that process.

The art is relatively top-shelf quality and very easy to follow. I could see this getting a short anime adaptation and doing really well provided they execute it with this same formula. It's just such a cute slice of life with its own unique twist and just adds up to be something quite sweet and entertaining. It reminds me of Dragon Maid for these reasons, though Dragon Maid is a masterpiece in its own right, but I also see a lot of potential with this series.

I'm sort of sad it's only 2 volumes long and I would definitely buy more if there was more to buy. I love Seven Seas for providing the bizarre and diverse stories that they do, even if you never know if it's gonna be a hit or miss, but this one is definitely a hit in my humble opinion. I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they might like it!

Skip to the end if you only want my conclusive thoughts.

I enjoy going to my local book store once or twice a month to pick up a few random volumes of manga I've never heard of before that look appealing to me to see what bizarre surprises they might hold.

The art is what initially drew me in for this particular read. It seemed to sport a similar aesthetic and vibe to what I had just caught up reading (Murcielago) and I was probably subconsciously looking for another manga that seemed similar to take its place while I painfully wait for the next volumes to ... release in English.

As I flipped through the pages of this manga, it seemed promising, but I was only met with disappointment with my purchase in the end after having read the first volume. It's not that it's not worth any money, just not retail $13. If you can get it for around $8 I'd say go for it and give it a try!

The biggest flaws of this manga:

My biggest complaint about the story is that there are a lot of sexual brother/sister references. Not sure why that's necessary to add unless the mangaka has some kinky fetish for that. Not for me. I don't care how cute you draw the girls, it just is uncomfortable to read.

The main female reaper girl with pink hair (on the cover) would be a perfectly enjoyable character if she didn't have to refer to the main male character and herself as TOI and MOI literally every single time she talks. Besides this being SUPER ULTRA ANNOYING, this was just confusing at first as it's already hard enough to remember everyone's names in a new story anyway so adding in some pet names that rhyme just made it all the more confusing to follow. I was really looking forward to liking this character but nope. She's the worst protagonist of them all. Not to mention she uses a freaking cane with a FOOT at the end of it to STAB people with through the chest. Doesn't make for compelling or impactful fight scenes.

I've read my fair share of manga and know when a story is hard to follow or not. This story lands somewhere right in the middle. Some scenes I would think I knew what was happening only to realize that I actually didn't. It's hard to follow in some parts, not all, but enough that the engagement suffers as a result. You would have to read it twice through to truly understand everything that's going on in every scene.

Now I will share the good aspects to this manga:

The art is wonderful. The aesthetic is solid and pleasing to look at.

The most enjoyable part of this story for me was the drama with the main male character and his cute female friend having a crush on him and being jealous of the reaper girl and the fact all he cares about is saving his sister and thus doesn't pay her as much attention as she'd like. Basically the main character's friends are the best part of the story and make it worth while.


Overall:

This is kind of like one of those stories that is so cheesy and awful at times that it's good.The story has a lot of cliches and lacks depth, but there's enough there to grapple with to keep entertained, even if there are some weirdo sexual vibes thrown in every now and then. I don't foresee myself collecting the rest of the series at least for a while. Perhaps I will eventually since it's only 3 volumes and provided I can get them for around $9 each because there is way too much manga out there far more worth my money at retail $13, but I think I was entertained enough to give the remaining volumes a shot.

Updated review (40 chapters in)

To summarize, this is a manga I very much enjoy and look forward to collecting the entire series as it releases. It's a personal favorite of mine, mainly due to the main character. She really ties it all together with her aesthetic and personality and is easily one of my favorite characters of all time. She's a borderline psychopath ex killer hired by the state to track down and kill high profile murderers. She sports long black hair with butchered bangs and baggy eyes that always have a sinister but cutesy look to them. She occasionally tilts her head completely sideways ... when she talks to others that really compliments her overall vibe. Oh, and she's also a super kinky lesbian and likes to get freaky with the ladies!

One of my favorite scenes is from the first volume that perfectly illustrates the personality of the main character (Koumori) is when her and her side kick are in a car chase with their target and happen to drive by a cute girl who is being harassed by a couple dudes. Koumori sweeps her into their vehicle and pulls over when they get her to safety and slides her contact information between the girl's cleavage, then proceeds to pursue her target xD this is quality character development my friends.

Overall it's a sexy, clever, fun, and dark read - everything I want to see from a manga. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys these sort of themes.

Story: 8
Art: 9
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10

Overall: 9