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May 25, 2010
In my opinion, Dollgun manga is greatly underrated; perhaps because of the boring synopsis and the single bad review it has. First of all, the Dollgun synopsis at MAL states:
"The day a young boy was born was the day that the legendary thief died. The many battles that revolve around the treasure left behind by him. Here, the curtains are pulled and the story starts."
In a nutshell, the synopsis is correct, yet it is phrased in an unexciting and unattractive way, failing to capture to whole essence of the manga. If the synopsis of Naruto were to be "The day a young boy was born
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was the day that the nine tailed beast was defeated. The many battles revolve around the boys goal to become the strongest ninja and rule his village. Here the curtains are pulled and the story starts". In a nutshell, that is Naruto, yet it is not so simple, and that is the case with Dollgun.
Dollgun is the story about Akane Junta, a normal kid that wants to become a "James Bond" sort of hero. Due to circumstances he discovers that within him lives the spirit of the legendary thief Dollgun. Suddenly he finds himself submerged in a battle against a mysterious secret organization and dealing with Dollgun's ecchi daughters, all in an attempt to unveil the mysteries of Dollgun's past.
This is not your typical harem story, the story is extremely entertaining and funny (its undertone feels and resembles a lot that of Mahou Sensei Negima). The art is well drawn, easy to understand, refreshing and cute. The characters at first are a little cloudy and hard to understand but as the manga progresses you get to understand them through their actions, choices, and thoughts (not through a lot of long explanations and tedious flashbacks). The enjoyment is superb, although there has only been 22 chapters translated so far, I read them all in one sitting, and could definitely pull some all nighters to finish the entire series. Although the manga is not extremely deep as deathnote and others, it is extremely enjoyable and it goes by pretty fast, specially because of the light humor and the giggles you get.
Overall, I really think this manga is underrated and I would definitely recommend it to people, at least as a transition between those heavy series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 14, 2010
So far there are only 5 chapters of Spray King translated, so the only thing I can say is that I see a lot of potential with this story. This review will not be very thorough, I aim for this to be my first impressions of the manga and to drag new reader's attention.
This manga leeks of a shonen adventure story, yet it cannot be easily described. The first five chapters consisted of about 45 pages each, dealing with the encounters of the underground hero Spray King and yet an underlying story. When you first read the manga you might think of it as something
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extremely stereotypical, a good guy fighting for good and a bad guy trying to mess with him; however, as the story progresses, the relationships between the characters appear to deepen and lead towards an unexpected route. I emphasize again that I have just read the first 5 chapters, so I have really no idea of how the plot is going to turn, but something i have realized is that the story deepens and gets more interesting with each chapter. This is definitely a series that I will keep my eyes on.
-Story-9- It is interesting as of now, but I am sure that it will get better
-Art-10- The art is what first drew me into the manga, the graffiti are spectacular and every scene is extremely clear and easy to understand. There is also the shonen feeling you get from reading One Piece and other mainstream mangas.
-Character-8- As of now, all characters are veiled in mystery, but you can clearly grasp where they are coming from and who they are. I chose to give it an 8 just because they seemed stereotypical, but not in a bad sense.
-Enjoyment-8-Although I can imagine myself getting annoyed if i marathon this manga if more chapters were to come out, as of now I think this is a really enjoyable manga and a good change of pacing from those gag, romance or psychological mangas.
Overall: 8 - just because there has only been 5 chapters translated.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 8, 2010
I first stumbled upon Piano no Mori while searching for a sports manga. At first I thought it was going to be something boring; however, after a few chapters, I realized I could not stop reading. My first impression of the manga was that it was about some elementary school kids and music, however, it soon progresses into something greater. I know most of you do not enjoy reading mangas about elementary kids as it takes away a lot of the drama; however this is not the case for this manga. As seen later on, the childhood of the characters sets the stage for a
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promising series of developments.
The manga is about a music prodigy that was brought up by a prostitute mother in a rural the red light district called "edge of the forest." Kai, the protagonist, was never taught how to play the piano, yet he is able to learn songs after just hearing them a couple of times. Since an early age he has played with a piano found in the middle of a forest, a piano which was abandoned by a famous concert pianist due to the arm injury that destroyed his career. About a couple of years later, Amamiya, Shuuhei; son of a concert pianist and brought up to follow the path of his father, transfers and meets Kai. Along with a couple of other events, such as meeting the owner of the piano in the forest, Kai starts taking a serious interest in music and ventures into the world of music and out of the "edge of the forest".
Although the synopsis might sound common, there are a lot of elements in the manga that make it extremely enjoyable. First of all, the manga is extremely realistic, with a golden pacing. You can clearly understand the standpoints of each character and you completely immerse into the world that Kai lives in. It makes you feel the emotions of the characters and realize the harshness of childhood. For example, while reading the manga, I seriously had anger fits and the urge to strangle one of the Kai's classmates, a fat kid that often bullies Kai. In many aspects, such as music appreciation and the uniqueness of each musical piece, it resembles Nodame Cantabile. If you have liked Nodame Cantabile, you will surely love Piano no Mori.
In regards to the Art, at first it might seem really childish, consisting of kids with flushed cheeks and a lot of shading. However, as the story progresses, it appears to be getting better. I do not mean better as in the art style drastically changes, but you certainly get used to the art and realize that it is quite adequate to convey that kind of story. The art serves the purpose of making the events understandable. The only thing I would have liked to see more is actual musical notes when the characters play the piano. As of now, most of the time when characters play the piano, it is represented by sparkly stars, sometimes making it hard to distinguish if the character is actually playing (on scenes where they test the piano sounds, you cannot distinguish if the sound is good or not, until about 5 panels later, when someone casually points it out).
I would score this as 8.5, it is beyond very good, but in comparison to other mangas, its not really great
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 29, 2010
I constantly read reviews and ratings in order to choose the next manga to read and anime to watch and for the most part, those reviews tend to reflect the overall essence of the series. I decided to write this review (which happens to be my first) because I was outraged at what the others commented. Upon encountering this manga and reading their reviews I thought Cage of Eden was some kind of stereotypical lame story with no character depth and bad plot. Thankfully enough i decided to give give it a try and was hooked up since the first chapter.
A plane suddenly crashes
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into a mysterious island inhabited by creatures that were presumably extinct. The protagonist, Sengoku Akira, who arrives due to the plane crash, starts to explore the island and gather an entourage in order to escape from the hell of the island. Although the first few chapters might sound much like a combination of Lost and High School of The Dead, the story progresses in a unique manner. Akiras entourage encounters different creatures and even a strange disease, but what is truly frightening about the island are the other passengers of the plane. Murders, betrayal, desperation befalls many of the different crash surviving groups, and the story focuses on how Akira's entourage encounters and deals with them.
Story-9
Although it has many similarities with Lost and High School of the Dead, the development of each event is truly original and realistic. The developments, and psychological situations that the characters experience are the same as those I would experience if found in a similar situation.
Art-10
The art is somewhat simplistic but at the same time detailed and realistic enough to convey the essence of the plot. I do not prefer an art style over another (I enjoy the Shoujo art style as much as the Shonen art style), what I ask is for the action scenes to be clear and for the emotional scenes to be moving. This manga does a good job in both. While escaping dinosaurs or explosions, you can clearly understand what is going on. While grieving for the death of someone, you can feel their sadness.
Character-10
As the people join Akira's entourage, more and more is revealed about each character. Akira goes through a bunch of moral dilemmas and it is clear how they change him. The other characters are also very well portrayed. You can clearly understand their insanity and stress about what they are going through. Akira's character is also quite admirable and pleasant to observe.
Enjoyment-10
I loved it. I started it in the morning and reached chapter 30 around 4 hours later. I skipped a biology lecture and decided to not each lunch before I finished the manga. Each chapter gets you hooked up to the next, the ecchiness and everything seems appropriate.
Overall-10
This is one of the rare mangas where I honestly could not stop reading. Although right now the after manga hype is starting to get low and I am starting to think of it as a 9, while still reading it, the manga definitely deserved a 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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