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THIS is my childhood!!!!!!!! For the longest time I couldn;t remember if this show was even real or some weird dream I had. But I somehow stumbled across it on youtube and wow, the memories.

I actually still love everything about it. I always felt something off, or even sinister about this show, and I was sorta scared of it when i was small. I still somehow get the weird feeling of unease when i watch it now. But i mean, its enjoyable, the art and animation is great, and ofcourse that weird feeling just adds to the experience. :) I still remember there was ... one episode where one of the snails finds a giant Dinosoar skeleton and i was so scared but i also loved it. I haven't been able to find this one anywhere. Maybe it was some kind of dream i had?????

"Litchi, Li Litchi, Li Li Litchi 〜♪"
MAN!!!! This Manga is just something else man..! I'll just say it off the bat, this manga gets a solid 10 from me.
Almost every aspect of this manga gets a 10 from me except characters. I'll explain that first.

Characters: 9
The reason why its not a 10 is simple; Not all characters are able to be fleshed out well enough, because of the short length of the manga. But, because the manga cuts short on focussing on the secondary characters, the main characters that the story focusses the most on, are outstanding. They are by far not the ... most complex or deep characters ever made, but they are compelling enough to get you very much invested in their story. The way Zera falls into a deep insanity trying to figure out who is the traitor, Jaibo confessing...you know.., Litchi falling in love with Kanon, and vice versa,,, you know the drill. Out of the four characters, all but Zera's ultimate drive is Love. And I find that so absolutely stunning, considering the plot and gore and every gut wrenching feeling you get after reading each chapter! I also love the contrast between Zera who is becoming less and less human by the minute, and Litchi, a robot, becoming more human and learning the importance of love and life.
(ALSO, One thing some people may find hard to understand, is that liking a character is different to condoning their actions!!! I hope the readers of this manga are intelligent enough to understand that Rape/Murder/Violence is bad, and also understanding that simply liking a character is different to thinking everything they did is okay!!)

Story: 10
This is no jolly fun tale of nine 13 year old boys and their secret little club, oh no no no. It's a Psychological drama falling more and more into insanity as the story progresses. I'd like to call this story a secret love child of "Lord of the flies' and "beauty and the beast"
As I said before, a lot of it focusses on the fact that Zera is losing his humanity, and Litchi gaining it. Its interesting seeing the boys in this cult-like Nazi club all worshipping Zera and trying to keep hold of their innocence aka beauty. Zera turning into a twisted monster each chapter and the mysterious sexual connection he has with Jaibo would be enough to be a stand alone interesting concept, but what makes this story So outstanding is the other story happening at the same time; the story of Litchi and Kanon. It is beautiful and heart-warming. I am somewhat of a sucker for the "beauty and the beast" genre of stories. The contrast between the two intertwining stories is what makes this story so mad but beautiful at the same time.

Art: 10
One look at the art, and its ingrained in to your mind forever. In a good way. An amazing way. The dark atmosphere, accentuated by the use of lots of beta/black, and the imagery of the dark and gloomy factories in the background. Sometimes you get just a panel depicting the factories, giving off even more of the depressing and dark tone of this manga. The atmosphere created by the art is what got me sold for this manga in the first place. Also, who could forget, the depictions of the characters. Each of their faces unique, and unforgettable. The way their movements are drawn, are human like, and their facial expressions are telling and so so powerful.
The art probably is the selling point of this manga, and I get it. This manga wouldn't be as perfect and loved without this unique art style and the atmosphere it brings with it.

Enjoyment: 10
So yeah, I loved it, as you can tell by now. Some people might get thrown by people calling it a BL or Yaoi. I mean, there is depiction of a sexual relationship between two boys, but its important to the story. Its not some kind of useless fan service they throw at you. The story would be incomplete with this relationship. Please do not shake this manga off because someone called it a Yaoi. It's not. It's really not. Even if you dislike Yaoi, I assure you you'll get a kick out of this manga.

Overall: 10
Do I even need to explain myself even more?? I recommend this manga from the bottom of my heart to anyone ready for this Psychological madness of a manga with lots of gore. It only took me an hour and a half to read, so if its cold and dark out, and you're craving some horror and drama, and you have some spare time THIS is the manga for you. I'm sure this manga will suck you in with its unique atmosphere and unique story telling, just by the first chapter. Oh, and I'm gonna warn you, It sure is gonna be hard to stop turning the pages.

(I'd also like to add that I think its the best if you read through the whole thing in one shot. :)

EDIT: Honestly though looking back at this review, I make it sound like this is the most incredible one-of-a-kind mind-blowing manga, but it's kind of more like a manga you blast through in an hour and a half and get a huge kick out of it and thats it. It's like a roller-coster. It's short, and not that deep, you could even say it's been already done a million times over, but just sit back and enjoy the ride. And you know what, I still love it lots and def recommend it to anyone looking for amazing art, an intriguing but short story and great gore.

A few weeks ago I finished this masterpiece of a show. I'm so passionate about it but I couldn't talk to anyone about it other than my mom. This show is like a hidden gem that not many people discover, and even if they do, they may not see the beauty of it. It's so underrated even though it is one of the greatest series out there.
I'm not a professional reviewer, heck, this is my first review ever, but I hope this might entrigue people into watching Naoki Urasawa's masterpiece of a show.

The plot is very interesting and quite simple to understand. There's ... the good and the evil, black and white, cat and mouse, you know the drill. But as the story unfolds, you understand that you don't really understand! There's so much more to the story and backstories and people aren't who they seem to be and it just branches out to so many directions.
Imagine a tree, the trunk, the branches, the leaves. All the elements of a tree alone, are useless. Yet, when they combine, they form a stunning piece of nature. That is how I see this show.

The characters are very realistic and human-like. Their motives are simple and aren't too ambitious like I dunno, "saving the world from all evil!" or something like that. All of their backstories are all relevant to the plot (you don't see that often...) and are very in-depth and just by seeing how each character is changed by the tragedy or event that happens in their life, how they deal with it, adds so much reality and analysis on the characters themselves. It's beautiful. No super-human-strength, no big-ass katana's, no personality trait that is solely based on them being horny. It's all just sheer HUMAN.

The art is like nothing I've ever seen. Though I do see how some people may be reluctant on starting the series by looking at the art style, DON'T!!!! All the characters' faces are unique and distinguished to one another and they all just look like real HUMANS. I do see that the animation could be stale at some parts since the faces always need to be full of detail, but honestly, it still looks stunning. The way hair moves in the wind, how long cotes move when someone is running, the movement of someone grabbing their gun, etc. I mean, there's not much action, to begin with, so there is no need for huge action scenes with flashy colours and explosions!!

The openings, endings and OST's are out of this world!! They're could all be pretty unsettling to an extent, but they could also be beautiful pieces of art. The opening is great, its awesome! It really hypes you up for the episode, and the visuals are also stunning too! All of them have some kind of meaning, even though you can't figure them all out in the beginning, you always get this feeling that this particular shot MUST have something to do with upcoming episodes! The two endings are also beautiful, yet unsettling. After watching one hell of an episode, and hearing the ending, it could sound calming and comfortable to one viewer, yet unsettling and weird to the other. (or maybe even both!) The OST's are beautiful too and are so memorable! A lot of them are really really scary and creepy, yet some of them are so soothing and graceful.

Since this was my first watch, there were parts that I didn't understand at all, heck, there are parts no one really understands! Everywhere I look I see different opinions and thoughts. But that's exactly what makes the show so great. A lot is left unexplained to the viewer so you yourself could think of an explanation. And everyone has a different point of view, sets of morals, so any explanation you come up with, is probably unique and the only one in the world!

As I said, I didn't understand some parts, but what I'm CERTAIN of is that this is one hell of a show that's one of the best I've ever seen, and will ever see.
This show is a must-see for viewers craving some phycological-thriller shows, and philosophical thoughts to think about when lying in bed, or taking a shower.