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So, you might be seeing that sub-seven score and think that this manga isn't even worth touching. When I first saw the score, I wanted to ignore it as well. But as a huge fan of the psychological genre, I couldn't pass down that tag and I went in. To be honest? I was very pleasantly surprised.

To put it simply, based upon the cover, you kinda might already know what kind of territory this manga going into. If not, lemme explain it in four letters: BDSM.
If that sort of thing doesn't interest you, you might not get as much enjoyment as you think. But even ... though the concept is what pulled me in, there were a lot of other things that impressed me.

Being that I'm trying to make it as spoiler-free as possible, I'll give you some important things that definitely stood out to me here:

- Without a doubt, the psychological element. It's definitely the highlight of this manga without a doubt. In a psychological manga, that sort of element is key, allowing the reader to question lots of things whether it be morality, the way our minds work, etc. I won't explain the depths the manga goes into, but 23 chapters in, it's definitely satisfactory.
- The art is really great. The character designs are super appealing, and everyone looks really nice! And if you're wondering about 'those' scenes, that's where the artwork is actually at it's best a lot of the time. So if that's your kink, you won't be disappointed at all.
- Character development is great even if it's still happening. I really like the interactions between the two main leads though, they're definitely interesting without a doubt. The side characters right now are decent too, I especially like Aoi (a girl character with a larger role later on) a lot as well!

Most of all, even if you're not into BDSM, the elements of this manga are good enough to keep you super engaged. I know it feels weird to give this manga a near-perfect score not even 30 chapters in, but it's something that definitely went far above any of my expectations. This isn't a manga that purely relies on the kinks presented, it's much more than that and I highly recommend it!!

It was the day that he'd just finished Anohana. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he clenched his Asuna body pillow in anguish.

"What a beautiful story."
That was the thought in his mind.

It had reminded him of what life was truly about. It made him want to reach for the stars, achieve the dreams he'd once given up on. He looked at his Asuna pillow, and his eyes began to sparkle.
He took out a notebook, and began to let his thoughts pour out onto the paper.

"A story of love."
"A story of letting go of the past."
... "A story of friendship."

He wanted to write a meaningful story, and in the end, he accomplished that goal.

The greatest crossover story of all.

'Anohana Art Online'.

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Honestly, should this review exist? I could just say it's an Anohana/Sword Art Online ripoff. It's literally Sword Art with an attempt at a dramatic, heavy storyline. Notice how I said 'attempt' and not 'there is.'
Because in the end, there is no melancholy. There is no emotion in this show.
Of all the anime I've ever watched, I've never seen such a lifeless, copy and paste show like this.
But here I am, reviewing this husk. So let's get to it.

Story: 3/10
The concept of a more melancholic VRMMORPG story isn't bad idea. In fact, what upset me the most is that this could've been good. But if it was good, I wouldn't be bashing on it like I am.
If I could describe this the best way I possibly can, it's a badly written fanfiction. It's a total mess, there's no weight to anything, and the characters are absolutely laughable. But sadly, I've seen anime far worse than this, so I can't exactly call it the worst. It had potential, but stabbed it several times and said, 'To hell with this, who needs a good plotline?'

Art: 7/10
I feel bad that my favorite anime studio of all time, Lerche, is working on this (Although this is for sure not their best work so far). Because the animation and art in this show is good. Yeah, it's good. When it comes to art and animation, Lerche practically nails it every time, even in their older works. I will say though, the character designs are pretty bland, but good ol' Lerche made them super appealing to look at. Even though this anime pretty much sucks, good on you Lerche for making beautiful art and animation.

Sound: 6/10
I don't have much to say here, just an average soundtrack overall. I will say though, I really like the OP. ED is average.

Character: 2/10
The characters in this show are hilarious! They're absolutely lifeless, they're cookie cutouts of archetypes, aren't interesting at all, and most of all..
I DON'T CARE ABOUT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
Did the staff really think writing the characters so lifeless was okay? Did they actually even think of putting effort into them. Just thinking of how void these guys are makes me want to read the original light novel just to see how bad they are in the original source material.
Let's see, we've got:
- Brown haired Kirito
- Menma and Sachi's love child
- angsty glasses man
- red haired asuna
- random chick that dont get enough screentime
- Laughing Coffin but it's a circus act
and so much more!
They're just so bland, it's bad.

Enjoyment: 3/10
The animation made it bearable, and it had so much potential, but it just threw it all away. Don't bother with it.

I’m just going to cut right to the chase, as this isn’t a review, but rather a suggestion to everyone who is either interested in watching Island, or is a player of the visual novel who wants to see how the show stacks up to the source material.

All I can say is, please don’t waste your time on this.

As for anime-only’s, please play the visual novel instead. The visual novel is one of the best I’ve read in quite a while, and it’s definitely worth playing for it’s 30-50 hour length. And if you’ve seen or played The Fruit of Grisaia, the game is made ... by the same exact people, so go for it!

As for the group of people (including myself) who have either watched a playthrough or have read the entirety of Island, the anime doesn’t do it justice. Comparing it to the visual novel isn’t even necessary, as comparing the visual novel to the anime adaptation is the same at putting a diamond ring next to a trash can, and playing ‘spot the difference’.

Whether you’re an anime-only or a fan of the original source material, just don’t waste your time watching the anime adaptation. The visual novel will leave much more of a lasting impression on you them the anime ever would.

The visuals may look nice, but in the end it’s a piss-poor adaptation of an excellent visual novel.

*THIS REVIEW IS WRITTEN FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT PLAYED THE GAME. I KNOW THAT THE SHOW IS NOT OVER, AS THE SPECIALS ARE RELEASING SOON. THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE SHOW UP TO EPISODE 12, SO SOME SPOILERS ARE PRESENT.*

Angels of Deaths is...strange. Not in a bad way, but this is one of those shows that truly is the definition of a mixed bag. It's not terrible, but at the same time, the series is just something I wouldn't go out of my way to watch a second time. And yet, it's a series I'll probably remember because of how bizarre it was.

Story: ... 6/10
The story of Angels of Death is fairly simple. Rachel Gardner find herself trapped inside of an abandoned building without any of her memories intact. Wandering around, she meets Zack, a man who's a bit off his rocker, who wields a sickle in hand. Together, they form a bond and try to find a way out of the building itself. Right off the bat, the concept alone is interesting. There are different floors that offer different, deadly challenges.
And also, did I mention that they aren't the only ones in the building?

The challenges themselves are conducted by murderers, one in charge of each floor. Rachel and Zack are put up to dangerous tasks, whether it's from a doctor who has an abnormal obsession with the human eye, or a woman who's sadistic mature makes killing seem like a game of punishment for people she deems 'sinners', the entire building is full of downright dangerous people.
But despite all these interesting concepts and ideas, the execution comes off as just incredibly slow. The pacing can be fast at times, but it's most just dragging on as they try to find how to get out of each floor. If there were a set of episodes that I find reasonably paced, check out episodes 4-6. I'm not saying the entire show is slow though, it does pick up around episode 10. And while the end of the 'final' episode is pretty easy to latch onto, it's a good stopping point to where the specials will pick up.


Art: 8/10
It may not look like it at first glance, but the animation and art in Angels of Death is pretty impressive. The art is simple, yet the color palette to me is dark, adding to the mysterious vibe the show is trying to give. The designs of each character are also pretty unique, a standout for me being Zack's design altogether. Each character stands out and looks different from one another, which is a huge positive. There are also many scenes where JC Staff clearly went all out, with scenes that absolutely stand out and look gorgeous as hell. In this aspect, Angels of Death clearly hits the mark.

Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack of Angels of Death can vary from being quite forgettable, to absolutely amazing. The opening song is nothing special, and in my personal opinion doesn't really fit the tone of the show at all. But, the ending song 'Pray' is one of the best I've heard in a long time. It's something very memorable, and Haruka Chisuga's (Who is actually the VA for Rachel) change from soft to powerful vocals are something to be admired. The OST for the show is is pretty great too, which I believe is from the game itself?
I almost forgot to mention the voice acting here, which is great! Rachel's VA does a great job at capturing her character well, along with the VA's for each murderer. Similar to the character designs, the voice for each character is undeniably unique, even more so than the art itself. You can tell the VA's are having an absolute blast with their roles. But, the standout for me is Zack.
Seriously, what is up with Zack being the total standout of this show? Nobuhiko Okamoto gives Zack the perfect amount of charm and crazy to just make every man and woman nut to the far ends of the galaxy.
Maybe it's because this man voiced Bakugo from MHA (which from listening closely, you can hear a tint of it in there.), but he really is a talented guy.

(Imagine Bakugou having an eternal hissy fit over Izuku and then stabbed him twenty times, was put in a mental institution, and escaped. That's how I can summarize Zack.)

Character: 4/10
Now here's where things get rocky. The characters on their own have quirks that make them stand out, which is a good thing. But the big problem with the characters lies in development. Some characters, like Zack, get tons of characterization. But others don't really get that kind of treatment, like some of the murderers or a certain girl, but we'll get back to her. We got so much information on Zack, hell, I think there was an episode where most of it was just Zack backstory. Listen up JC Staff and Angels of Death staff, we all love Zack. But, he's taken up a bit TOO much of the development that others should've gotten. When it comes to the murderers, it varies. Some get lot of screentime, and don't get jack shit of development. Meanwhile, some are only there for not even one and a half episodes, and get so much more development than either of them. Y'all writers just can't figure out what to do, huh?
But the one thing that really made em disappointed the most, was how they handled Rachel.
Here's the thing. They didn't do Rachel a dirty, they gave her a fair share of development. But the problem is, there are so many things that are mentioned about Rachel and important plot points that are just....never brought up again.
It's just sad to see it all be thrown away, but hey, the series ain't over yet. Gotta wait and see.
Overall, the staff goofed the eff up.

Enjoyment: 6/10
Despite some of it's lingering issues, Angels of Death is fairly enjoyable, and I hope that it starts to pick up.

The Isekai genre is something that has been largely discussed by the anime community, in good and bad ways alike. But in most cases, the genre itself has a notorious reputation for not only rehashing the same concepts over and over again, but somehow have come up with the most ridiculous, pandering, bizarre, and on some occasions the most surprisingly entertaining series I've ever seen in anime.
Coming from someone who's watched the entirety of Smartphone, Death March, and is currently tormenting themselves withe the undeniable trash heap that is Master of Ragnarock this season, my expectations for this were fairly low. However, watching Demon ... Lord this season had me quite surprised. In my personal opinion, this is probably one of the best Isekai anime we've gotten.

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Story: 7/10
I will say, the story is similar to most isekai stories. NEET/Otaku/whoever the hell our protagonist is either dies, activates some kind of magical object, or grants some really cheesy wish to be in another world, and boom, there they are. It's the same rehashed plotline, but this time, the main heroine's this time are...get this, it's gonna be revolutionary...slaves to the protagonist!
At this point, I expect you to walk away and not even bother touching this anime, but I can assure you that it isn't as bad as it sounds. The tropes and cliches are obviously there, but they're actually managed fairly well, and while to some cliches and tropes degrade a show's overall quality, the execution of said chicles made it a pretty enjoyable watch for me.
And touching upon the subject of the show's fanservice (since this IS in the ecchi genre), I don't say this a lot but it was executed...well?
I mean, ecchi isn't a genre I particularly enjoy.. But the way they did it here didn't feel forced like most Ecchi shows do, and to me that's a pretty good thing. And a lot of those scenes were honestly to me, pretty hilarious. (There's one scene near the end of Episode 8...gotta have that good ass fabric.)

Art: 6/10
The animation in this show is fairly average. It's nothing impressive for the most part, but it's during battle sequences and fanservice scenes where the animators really step up their game.
The character designs are also nothing special, but they're still appealing to look at.

Sound: 6/10
Don't really have much to say about it, other than that it's also fairly average. The OP and ED are nice, but it doesn't really stand out.

Characters: 8/10
This is where the show really shines. The characters for the most part are fairly likable here, despite a lot of them pretty much being stereotypes. But the true standout here is the main character, Diablo.
THIS CHARACTER IS AN OP PROTAGONIST DONE RIGHT!
I'm not saying that all OP main charrcters have to be like him, but his character is just done so well. He's one of the main highlights of teh show itself. From him being a NEET, the staff clearly used that to their advantage, as there are so many hilarious moments with his awkward self trying to act as a bonafide 'Demon Lord'. If there's one comparison I can make, imagine a more awkward and comedic version of Ainz from Overlord. Not saying he doesn't have serious moments either, as he is shown to be quite the caring individual in some of the more dramatic scenes of this show. So if you asked me if you should watch it just for Diablo alone, I would absolutely sat yes. Besides Tanya Degurechaff and Kazuma, he without a doubt ranks as one of my favorite Isekai protagonists, PERIOD!

Enjoyment: 8/10
Whether you're watching this seriously or just watching this as your guilty pleasure anime of the season, this one's a hoot, and I enjoyed it much more than I expected I would.

Overall: 7/10
It's not a masterpiece, nor is it a huge trash heap. It's honestly a fun and enjoyable series to watch. Whether or not you forget about it as the new anime season arrives, this is an Isekai that you'll surely find some enjoyment in.

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*

Romance manga nowadays are starting to become quite similar to each other. It's gotten to a point where there aren't many gems sticking out of rough. Subverting tropes can be especially difficult, including trying to be as original as possible.

However, this is one of those manga where they subverted tropes, and did it RIGHT.

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Story: 7/10

... Imagine having the greatest harem of all time. That is the goal of our protagonist, and all he wants is to get the harem he's dreamed of.
One day, a friend of his wants to meet up with him and talk in the park. Could this be the start of a blooming romance? Could this be the start of our protagonist's fantasy becoming a reality?

Guess what?
That's not how this story works.

It turns out that this friend is not in love with his, but rather his best friend!
Quite the shocker, but minutes after, his childhood friend messages him to meet up at the park.

This is it, right?

Nope.

Not only is she not in love with our protagonist, but she is in fact, in love with the same person that the other female friend had fallen for!

I believe this is all I should give, as it gets much better as you go on.

Art: 7/10

To be fair, the art is great and appealing to the eyes. But compared to others, this one isn't as extraordinary.

Character: 7/10

The characters are an absolute delight. While I will admit that a lot of the cast is fairly stereotypical (and executed pretty well), no one even comes closed to the determined man is our protagonist. All I can say is....I laughed a lot.

Enjoyment and Overall: 8/10

If you're looking for something hilarious and different, look no further than here. I can be sure that you won't regret it.

I have very mixed feelings about this manga.

While it is fun on one hand, on the other, it feels rushed, and could've been done better.

Also, t r a p s .

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Story 5/10

... I enjoyed the story for what is was. Our MC, Takase, is a masochist, and has fallen in love with the beautiful 'girl' known as Tachibana, who'd recently transferred into his class. 'She' has a very blunt, sadistic personality, which instantly grabs Takase's heart.

But one afternoon, Tachibana's secret is 'discovered' by Takase. Tachibana believes that he may have uncovered her 'secret', so he makes Takase a servant.

Some ecchi situations and hilarity ensues, and there is plot progression, but the reason the score is so low is because it feels very rushed to me. I feel that this story should've have been much longer than it was, so that the characters could be much more developed, and we wouldn't have this rushed pacing throughout.

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Art 7/10

The art was cute. It's not the best manga art that I've seen, but it's still pretty appealing to look at.

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Character 5/10

I like the characters, but as I said earlier, we didn't really have enough time to get attached to the characters, due to the rushed pacing of the story. These characters had so much potential (Yes, including the masochistic MC.), but if they story was longer, it could've turned out much different.

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Enjoyment 6/10

Despite it being pretty rushed, this manga still has some comedic and enjoyable moments, with small, yet valuable character moments at times.

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Overall 5/10

It's not the best manga you'll read in your lifetime, but it clearly isn't the worst either.

Hey kids! Are you looking for poor writing and flat characters, while also being a poor excuse to put in some Yaoi action?

Well, Caste Heaven is perfect for you!

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I’m honestly so confused on why this is rated so highly. I took a glance at the review, and people are giving this 9’s and 10’s. It’s not really worthy of any of that praise. Other than the art, everything in this manga is just plain mediocre.

Now, let’s get onto the review!

... -

Story 4/10

In all honestly, the concept for this manga is actually pretty interesting. A caste system based upon popularity could actually be done very well. The first chapter was really good, like, REALLY GOOD.

But, here’s where one of my biggest problem shows with the series lies.

After that chapter, it turned completely upside down into a Yaoi fest.

What I’m trying to say here, is that this shouldn’t have been a Yaoi to begin with!

This is a similar problem in another Yaoi Manga I’ve read, Ten Count, which I’ll be reviewing in the future.

But unlike that manga, they actually TRIED when doing their story!

This manga on the other hand, doesn’t even try to make a decent story, they just put in a concept and put in a ton of Yaoi to classify it as a “story”.

It’s honestly just lazy, and piss poor.

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Art 7/10

The only truly good part of this manga. Sure, I’ve seen manga with much better art, but the art in this is still pretty good, and some of the color sequences are absolutely stellar to look at.

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Character 3/10

What a waste of potential...

Almost every character in this story is either a trope or absolutely flat.

There’s barely a single piece of development at all in the story, and whne there is, it’s mostly sloppy, and doesn’t even affect the character as a whole. There’s barely an ny change to the character, and they just stay stagnant.

Here are poor excuses for characters, and I didn’t really care for them whatsoever.

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Enjoyment 3/10

Like I said earlier, I didn’t care for ANY of these characters. We didn’t get to connect with any of them, plus pointless things were added one after another.

I kept reading because I wanted it to get good.
I really hoped it would, but in the end, it didn’t.

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Overall 4/10

This story had the potential to be great, but it ultimately was wasted on pointless Yaoi scenes, and there didn’t seem to be much progression.

It was honestly a pretty disappointing experience.

You know, there are times where I myself wonder why God never comes from above.

And now, thanks to this anime in particular, I've now been enlightened.

HE'S AFRAID OF OUR OWN CREATIONS.

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Have you ever been hyped for something? So excited that you'll be jumping around your room in joy?

... That was me and a few other's simple reactions to the PV trailers for this anime.

Knowing that the same studio that made KK, GoHands, was making this anime, I got really excited. I found much enjoyment in KK, and I was truly, deep inside, looking forward to this anime.

And then, when the subs came out on the exact release date, I immediately clicked on it.

This is all I can say about it.

I'VE NEVER BEEN THIS DISAPPOINTED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

In all of the years I've watched anime, I had NEVER seen this much laziness in a show.

EVER.

This isn't Pupa levels of bad.

This isn't Mars of Destruction bad.

Ohohoho, this is FAR worse.

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Story 2/10

Story. What story?

YOU MEAN THE CLICHE PILE OF TRASH THEY THREW AT US?!

Honestly, did they even attempt to at least write a decent story? Because from what I saw, they clearly didn't.

Every single line felt lifeless, predictable, shallow, etc.

I could go on and on at how bad the story in this, but you wanna know the worst part?

THE IDEA THEY WAS ACTUALLY INTERESTING!

Sure, it wasn't the most original idea, but it definitely was one that peaked the interests of many, and we haven't seen many plotlines like that in an anime.

Nope!

They decided:

"Hey, let's just make the laziest excuse for a story that we possibly can!"

Such a good concept was wasted on laziness.

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Art 3/10

I'll give GoHands the credit where it's due: Some of the frames in the show were absolutely stunning to look at. It'd be enough to get a person's panties moist.

But, I'm just gonna let out the enormous elephant in the room.

THE CGI.

Oh god, I've seen '90s cartoons with better CGI than this.

Like, there are video games with crappy CGI that are absolutely terrible, and they put much more effort into the CGI than Hand Shakers did.

It's just so unappealing to look at!

And the chains, OH GOD THE CHAINS.

The earlier episode of Veggietales look more appealing than Hand Shakers.

Dorbees looks more appealing than Hand Shakers.

That's saying a whole lot.

Just imagine a Chocolate Truffle, with the interior being sewage, while the exterior is just chocolate.

That's basically the art in a nutshell.

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Sound 5/10

The best part of the series, without a doubt.

I don't really have much to say about the music, other than it not being the best music ever, but it isn't really the worst either.

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Character 2/10

Oh. you mean there are CHARACTERS in this anime, and not just cardboard cutouts?

Honestly, what an absolute shame.

These have to be the most dull, cliché, and lifeless characters I've ever seen.

They're just so one-dimensional and forgettable. Heck, the only notable thing about them were their character designs, and that's it.

Do I remember any of their names?

Nope.

Do they have any memorable traits?

Absolutely not.

It's like they took out pieces of computer paper, scribbled on them, and said:

"Yep, these are dynamic, fleshed-out, memorable characters that an audience will absolutely love!"

They're basically flat characters, accompanied with flat writing.

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Enjoyment 1/10

What did y'all expect me to rate this?

I'm honestly not surprised if they use this anime to torture people or something.

It took me so long to make this review as a whole, because of how much I was dreading to go on with this anime.

But somehow, I finished it without dying.

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Overall 2/10

I'm only giving this a 2/10 because no show is completely "bad."

This show had so much potential to be great, but it ultimately wasted it all, and resulted in being the pile of garbage that it became.

So overall, if you want to torture yourself or your friends, look no further than watching Hand Shakers!

When I heard this was written by Nisoisin, the creator of the Monogatari series, I was pretty excited to read this.

I read the first 6 chapters that were translated so far, and boy, did they deliver.

Story: 9

In my opinion, the story is really interesting. So basically, this boy with twisted view on society thinks that the world lacks individuality, and he wishes to be unique and remembered by many for the rest of his life. Luckily, his wish may come true, because he is the first to be diagnosed with an incurable disease that kills all victims at the age of 12, and the boy ... is 11 years old. so he gets his wish, right?

NOT EXACTLY.

He soon meets a girl who was recently diagnosed with the same exact disease moments after him! And she's very close to the death toll, because it's almost time for her 12th birthday to arrive.

The boy is determined to get what he wants, but how will he do it?

FIND A WAY TO KILL HER BEFORE HER 12TH BIRTHDAY.


I'm not going to say anymore, because in my opinion, this premise really intrigued me. A LOT.

It's really well executed, and it keeps the reader wondering what's going to happen next.


Art: 9

I heard the art was from the artist who drew Medaka Box, another work created by Nisoisin as well. I haven't read Medaka Box by the way, just so you know.

The art is amazing.

THAT VOLUME 1 COLOR SCENE OMGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swear, I fell in love with it instantly!


Characters: 9

Yep, so you're wondering why I gave these characters a 9 after reading only 6 chapters.

THESE CHARACTERS ARE INTERESTING.

I'm not kidding, I'm literally invested in these characters. I'm just so interested in these characters, it's just astounding.

We first have the boy, who is known as Shounen in this story. I'm not joking, that's how he and the little girl are named.

This dude remind me so much of Light Yagami from Death Note in a really good way, and especially how Chapter 6 ended, I am hyped to see what he does next.

The little girl, or Shoujo, is very interesting as well. She's like, the brains over brawn. She's a happy go lucky girl, and I'm excited to see what awaits her in Chapter 7.

The only flaw I have with the characters is that some of the important side characters haven't gotten as much insight as the other characters, and they've gotten a TON of development in the first 6 chapters.

but that's somewhat minor, so I still enjoy all of the characters in this series so far!


Enjoyment: 10

By what I've been saying about this manga, you can already tell how much I adore this manga. The plot is very interesting, especially for a psychological series. That just adds to the enjoyment! The characters are full of depth and get some good development, and the art is amazing!

I think I've made my point XD.

Overall: 9

I think this series is amazing so far! And to be this amazing in only 6 chapters, that's just astonishing. If this series keeps going in the right direction, it could definitely become the next big hit for Nisoisin and Akatsuki Akira!

You've done good you two.

You've done a REAL good job with this manga.

Oh yeah, whoever translates this manga, PLEEEEEEEEEASEEEE when are you going to release the next few chapters?!

I'm not impatient or anything, it's just that the suspense is KILLING me!

so anyways, give this series a shot. If you don't like it, that's okay. This review was just my silly opinion.

Ad if this review helped you out, I'm glad that I was able to help you with whatever you were doing!

See you next review!