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Looking through the eye of an ordinary reader, immediately saying that Spirit Circle is an extraordinary manga wouldn’t convince anyone. Indeed, it wouldn’t. Just look at the banal art, the stale first chapter, and the obviously common synopsis which probably doesn’t entice interest the slightest bit; why is it so loved? Lacking features through those sides that we can see, we move on to the emotional side. Bitter-sweet, life-affirming, and somehow generating feelings of melancholy throughout the cycle of your reading session; Spirit Circle is something everyone can enjoy, consisting full of wisdom, and creates feelings that won’t lie.

Written ... and drawn by Satoshi-sensei, also the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Spirit Circle tells the story of a 14-year-old young man called Fuuta meeting a new transfer student named Koukou, in which way or another leads into a retelling of their reincarnation in many different periods of time and dispute between all the reincarnation of both these young students. Spirit Circle falls into the category of books, where the premise and beginning generally wouldn’t pull that much of an audience, but to those who wing it right through, the pay-off is a golden treat. Every dialogue is filled with faithfulness and a tad bit of comedy in it; wanting you to read more, to finally reach the satisfying ending in which you know that everyone is happy and learned the joy of life.

With Fuuta trying to find the reason why Koukou tries so hard to kill him for no reason, the manga pieces the puzzle one by one, telling us the story of Fuuta’s many reincarnations in different time periods like for example in the Knight-age, where he definitely did something worth getting hate for. Every and each part of the century-story has this unique feel of genuineness from those time-period, different situation, different lessons to learn. The range of reasons why they both hate each other from time to time are sometimes complex, it ranges for instance from a dispute for the ethical response to a dualistic situation of the alive soul and death body to a simple straight-forward revenge story. After knowing the ending of all of these stories, the young Fuuta would react like a normal boy in his puberty would. Sad. Happy. Motivated. Despair. Curiosity. Sometimes he can’t even understand those feeling himself. All of those feelings build the relationship between these two characters even stronger, and the intricacy of love and hate would make us understand both of them even more.

The last period of time which will be told at the end of the manga will tell us the reason for this million century dispute, which I admit is a little bit lacking compared to all the stories that have been told. These deficits are somehow blown out of the way with what for me is one of the most satisfying ending in any manga. The two main character finally broke the “circle” and so the many stories, the many disputes, the many fights are all finally in peace, leaving us flabbergasted and these unknown diverse emotions sprawling out from our eyes. It is something that I can’t explain the slightest, why the melancholy and the happiness can create such feeling, and you will question yourself as well.

These types of manga are one of a kind.
It’s been a few months since I finished Spirit Circle, but I feel like writing something to get more people to read it, so here’s my short review of it.

I'm a sucker for child-like tales being adapted into a full-blown series with a pinch of adult element inserted into it and Totsukuni no Shoujo is exactly one of those. It tells the simple story of a little girl (Insider) who doesn't remember anything about her past, living in the dark side with "Sensei" which the Insider thought as "evil" (Outsider) who also doesn't remember anything about his past. The story tells us about their struggle living in the Outside, finding the truth about their past, and their effort to just live simply in peace; which is certainly not possible for them.

The slice-of-life aspect in ... the very first few volumes were absolutely sweet and heartwarming. The main characters tell each other stories, they bake together, they fight and reconcile, and so many others. How the author presented the story with the least text possible was an incredible storytelling method, I love it with all my heart. In many point of the story, you'll be astonished by the one-page art and how it can tell a thousand of words without any text at all. The theme of the story perfectly conveys the innocence of the little girl and the desperation of "Sensei", who always feels like that he isn't enough caring for the little girl. I would also like to commend the simple world building and politics in the series. It was by all means not complex or complete, but it felt enough with what was going on and it complements the story well. It was also a necessary touch for the story, which I have to rant about without spoiling anything.

As the story goes, things suddenly become a completely different feel in almost every aspect, and this is where I'm utterly disappointed at where everything is going. I knew something have to change, but the way the author did it was odd and quite possibly even contentious. Maybe it's just me wanting those sweet moments to stay forever and surely it's not just the reading getting too much information at once while getting presented with unreasonable twists, right? No. Something feels flawed at what was happening in the last few volumes, it doesn't feel like I was reading the same manga with the weird tone going on; I myself don't get what the author is trying to tell during those chapters. There was a lot of chance to deepen the world outside the main character, but the author failed to do so, for unknown reasons I don't know myself. When you finish, the entire work felt incomplete. There should be something... Something missing. What is it?

Story aside, the art and the interactions between the two main characters are still something to be praised about. Emotions are conveyed in a smart way with the unique art and it still exists despite the story going downwards. Let me repeat myself, the first few volumes are soul-stirring, but as the story is concerned, it's an absolute hit or miss. You will either love everything, or you will question what the actual fuck is going on. Either way, I admit it's a unique read and you should give it a chance.

There's only a couple of comedy manga that really captured the feel of "comedy". In terms of manga related to the genre of comedy, you are most likely to think about simple fresh comedy that doesn't get lost in translations like Azumanga Daioh or the rarely story-based comedy like Gintama, that is somehow able to be funny through all the translations' problem. So what's my point? Thing is, SoreMachi never comes up in any of the conversation, even though I argue it was also of the great comedy manga of its time.

When you start reading, you won't expect nor get any continuous story. From ... the very start, the author decided that each SoreMachi chapters will differ in point of time; there will be chapters that happens after the next chapter and vice versa. Sure, the character is interesting at best, but that's the main appeal of comedy. If you don't get goofy, fun, enjoyable character; you can't call it good comedy. Halfhearted written characters will go down the drain as something that merely exists and nobody will even care about them. SoreMachi is exactly that. You exactly get your goofy, weird, and colorful characters. When you're reading, maybe you see the random plot as something generic or nothing special, but somehow you just want to keep reading. You read, you read, you read, and the character is able to pull you towards them, getting you to turn each page and force your straight lips to bend on its own. I rarely get the feeling where you just want to read more, but have to hold back because you don't want this feeling to end.

The best slice-of-life makes you feel the emotion of the characters, and with such absurd moments happening in between chapters; you can still feel those emotions. Friendship and character interactions are all fleshed out, delivered in a warm way and never really devolves into something drama-like, heavy, or forced.

Unfortunately, in the last volume, Ishiguro-sensei somehow forgot that Hotori's attachment to her town is the main focus of the entire series. The thing with Futaba was sweet and heartwarming, but I have to admit the half-assed ending could've been turned into something special. Well, it's a comedy manga after all! Nothing you can do about it!

It's a light-hearted comedy with joyful and characters written by someone that is enthusiastic about his work, you don't get those in this day and age. Read SoreMachi and you will not regret it. Read it.

Though I believe the series wouldn't be ending anytime soon, I feel like writing a quick and concise review wouldn't do any harm.

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is a fantasy(?) isekai(?) shounen-like series that takes place on the demon world. The main character, Iruma, was sacrificed by his parents to a demon, and somehow through some absurd circumstances he became a demon(principal) grandson and goes to his demon school with unique powers and yada yada yada he gets some demon acquaintances and friends through encounters, fights, fate and yada fucking yada. Usual premises that you've heard before, sounds boring, and you're probably not interested.

The earlier chapters ... deal mainly with Iruma connecting with everyone on the demon world with his likeable and straight personality, while the later chapter (right now around 320) is surprisingly the same, with a sprinkle of power-levels and battle arcs!

Now stop. Listen to me. I'm going to explain why does people love this series so much, and the charm of this series lies on the depth and relationship between each character. I've said that Iruma has a likeable and straight personality, but that doesn't apply only to Iruma. How Nishi-Sensei is able to introduce a wide range of characters with ACTUAL personality without fear of doing nothing with them in the future is beyond me. That teacher in the background without any real use? Let's make her the theme of this chapter while developing the other characters, which are not even the main protagonist! With countless of well-designed characters and loveable personalities interacting with each other, it naturally builds the foundation to a great series.

By all means you can still see some of the usual anime-tropes like harem or power of friendship there (which I assume some people don't enjoy), but the actual depth or bond made it so, that it's absolutely tolerable and entertaining to read. My favorite theme from the whole manga would be the term "ambition" and how each demon see them differently, with the main character Iruma fully misunderstanding the term before his encounter with one of his romantic interest, Amelie. Occurring themes like this happens slowly throughout the manga and it makes you understand more how does the demon side feel about these emotions. Family, demon friendship, teaching, greed, you name it. Sometimes it's comedic, sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's very much absurd. I really enjoyed every chapter, even the long battle/character arcs, which bring me to the next point: Story.

Basically, it goes like this. You get filler chapters, then long battle chapters or characters arc, more fillers, short arcs and repeat in random. Even though the first few battle arcs felt out of place, it never really gets to the point where it gets illogical and weird. The story felt planed and smooth, while the filler part does it part best by focusing on side characters. I get how people would be turned down because of the battle arcs being quite long, and could devolve into feeling that the whole series is a bit inconsistent. Depiste those feeling, it pays off with the development of a character and satisfying ending, I have emphasized many times already: The characters are the charm, the story is fun as it is; but it is by all means not perfect.

As for art, I can only say that the wide panels and full panels are breathtaking. May it be cliché transformations or battle roars, Nishi-sensei sure understands what make those things invigorating and create goosebumps.

I don't know where will this series go, how will the series end, and what are Nishi-sensei plans for the upcoming years, but that was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to everyone who craves fantasy shounen alike. Don't mind the rough start, it will get better for you. Hopefully.

Heartbreaker arc was amazing and I require more Gaap chapters.