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Mar 24, 2024
If you liked the exploration of blessings from Season 1, then I think you'll like this season too. Season 1 asked the question "Do you have to live as your blessing dictates?" and answered it through Ruti overcoming the life consuming blessing of the hero and gaining the freedom to live as she wants.
But what if the person with the hero blessing actually wants to be the hero? Season 2 features Van, the "new" hero, and instead asks "Is simply doing as your blessing dictates enough to fulfill your role?" The clash in ideologies between Van, a devout follower of the Almighty who confers blessings,
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and Gideon, the previous hero's guide who has learned to live outside those blessings, makes for a compelling central conflict.
Within Van's party, Theodora (now going as Esta) tries to advise Van to be more flexible, as she's learned from Gideon, but Lavender (a mysterious fairy who loves Van) keeps telling him he's fine as he is. The last member of the party, Cardinal Ljubo, seems to want to use Van, but somewhat comedically throws his arms up in the air when it comes to actually controlling his actions.
Meanwhile, in Zoltan, Ruti is learning to live a normal life with help from Tisse. Much of the extended cast returns to Zoltan as well, and there are plenty of fun episodes with them all. While there isn't as much focus on Red and Rit's romance as there was in the first season, there's still development, and Rit's love for Red makes for an interesting parallel with Lavender's love for Van later on.
The conclusion of the season was very satisfying and wrapped up everything nicely. Overall I enjoyed this season slightly more than the first, since I was more invested in the plot around blessings than the comfy romance (though both aspects are good), but if you care more about Red and Rit's romance I think you'll like the ending as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 23, 2022
Just read this manga and saw it has no reviews here, so I decided to write a quick one. The manga feels somewhere between "Ueno-san wa Bukiyou" and "The Story Between a Dumb Prefect and a High School Girl with an Inappropriate Skirt Length," for those familiar with either of those series, due to its clumsy female lead and stoic male lead.
"Arakure Ojousama wa Monmon Shiteiru" starts with Kuchinashi Tsubaki (tall athletic girl popular with other girls) trying to put Tadashi Kiritsu (diligent public morals officer) in compromising lewd situations in order to blackmail him. She gets more flustered than he does as a result
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of her own setups, and there's the comedy.
As the series goes on, it naturally transitions to more of a clumsy romcom, where she starts approaching him out of personal romantic interest and stops telling herself her motivations are anything else. Since Kiritsu is still wary of Tsubaki's intentions, however, many of her attempts to get closer result in the two of them comedically yelling at each other.
The premises of each chapter are consistently fun, the chemistry between the two mains is great, and the gradual character development so far has been solid. There are a handful of minor characters who show up from time to time who fit in nicely as well. I'd recommend picking it up if you're looking for a funny slightly lewd romcom.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 30, 2019
I love this series. This manga is a fantastic story about how the confident loner Yuuji Yugami influences people around him throughout high school, especially the transfer student Chihiro Watanuki who earnestly wants to make friends. The characters are excellently written, every interaction feels thought out, and the situations are interesting without straying from reality and never overstay their welcome.
A large part of my enjoyment came from being able to immediately relate to and understand Yugami. The sincere confidence in being happy on his own, with an ego built on his proven skill at a hobby and a philosophy based on reflection on what
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makes himself happy. The questioning of social norms that don't seem to have a practical purpose, and strong opinions that he refuses to change unless given good reason, though he is always open to being convinced. The way he obsesses over a newfound hobby, seeks an outlet for his creative passion, and then, just as quickly as he picked up the activity, puts it on hold for something fresh. The fact that despite ostensibly not caring about having friends, he still loves talking with others, observing people who interest him, and giving advice whether it's wanted or not. His notoriety and disruptive behavior often put him at the center of a chaotic whirlwind that affects many people around him, but he consciously aims to remain objective to himself and not let other people's impressions of him change his lifestyle.
But if you don't get Yugami or hate how he acts, while your experience with this series will be fundamentally different from mine, especially early on, you'll probably be able to empathize with another character very easily. A significant chunk of the manga isn't just about Yugami, but how all his peers perceive him. You'll be able to follow along with Watanuki and others as as they grow to understand Yugami, and see his generally good intentions and why he chooses to act the way he does, despite all the negative feedback from his classmates that ruins any popularity he might have. It's not like Yugami gets preferential treatment by the author; every character is treated with the same level of care that lets their distinct personality and motivations shine through.
The other aspects of this manga that make it special are the thoughtfulness of each interaction and the variety of carefully crafted scenarios. The writing of dialogue is consistent to the point where you can get a feel for a character's personality from just a few lines. The story masterfully transitions in and out of arcs, without depending on a rigidly structured narrative. Sometimes chapters of the manga are connected directly, such as the baseball games or the school festival, but often there's just a sense of continuity through the steady development of the characters. When an arc does happen, you can see signs that something big is coming and watch as everything satisfyingly falls into place, with no detail forgotten from previous chapters.
I had only read 9 volumes of Yugami when I wrote most of this review, but I had no doubt in my mind that it would continue to uphold its established level of quality, and it absolutely did. There are a few moments that stood out to me in particular as fantastic culminations of everything the manga had built to, and without talking in too much detail about them, I'll just say that the "letter" and "speech" are incredible. Finding a story with this level of quality and depth is rare, especially in a manga that is primarily comedy and not melodramatic in the slightest. I am very grateful to have found this manga and that it was written, and highly recommend giving it a read as it was a wonderful and extremely worthwhile experience.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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