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Jigokuraku is a little bit hard for me to describe, because it's not really a genre I'm too familiar with. I've never been big on shounens, let alone historical ones, but something about the style and flow of this series had me so captivated I felt a need to sit down and write about it. From the first chapter, something about it just instantly hooked me with the thought of oh, this will be good. And excellent it was.

This is one of those manga where after I caught up to the ongoing releases, I would wait months before picking it up again. I say this ... to mean that I don't think it's as good when you read each chapter individually, but somehow as a whole the story truly comes together and sings. The premise is almost like a twisted classic in a way, following a group of convicts and their executioners as they travel to a mysterious, spiritual island to find the elixir of life with the promise of being pardoned for their death sentences. Our main characters are the duo of Gabimaru, a well-known, cold-hearted shinobi and his appointed executioner Sagiri, a thoughtful woman trained in swordsmanship by the Yamada clan. As one would expect (this is after all a shounen manga), throughout their journey they gain respect and appreciation for one another alongside some other new friends.

I mentioned that the beginning of the series immediately struck me, and that's because from the very start, Jigokuraku has managed to make me really care about its characters. It's normal to find a series with interesting characters, but to form an emotional attachment is another story. Obviously, nobody in this series is particularly relatable (they're criminals and executioners from historical Japan), but something about their problems just felt real to me, and I was genuinely concerned and sad for almost each and every one of them. Additionally, despite having a decently large and scattered cast (characters spend most of their time traveling separately or in small groups), the author manages to elaborate on all of them in a way that you don't feel like you're missing anyone. Each person has their own carefully sculpted backstory, and there's rarely a feeling of someone being skimmed or missed.

I want to attribute my feeling of connectedness to the atmosphere of the manga. Though very good and engaging, I don't think the plot of the series is remarkably strong, but the author has such a great talent for storytelling. I say this because the world he builds feels so vivid and immersive. I mentioned previously that this is a series that I would binge read rather than keep up with weekly updates, because it was hard to get the full experience reading just one chapter at a time. The series really struck me the most after my first 60 chapter binge read, and then going 15-20 at a time so that I could fall in love with the world again. There was something so stunning about the setting and its incredibly bizarre cast, and being a part of it always made me feel a sense of awe and amazement. I don't love shounen manga, so big fight scenes and toots of friendship aren't usually for me, but the fight scenes in Jigokuraku were so strange and captivating. I also enjoyed how the darker premise played into the series' morals and messages; I appreciated the careful balances between good and evil and light and dark.

I've never seen the show Mononoke so this could be incredibly off base, but something about the art style reminded me of a Mononoke poster. There's this sense of mystery to it, with the floral themes and the genderless villains and the true strangeness of the world. The constant florals representing intersections of life and death were particularly visually stunning. I didn't think that flowers growing from a person's face could feel so macabre. Looking at the villains, this is again incredibly evident, as each is associated with images of nature and growth to a dangerous degree. The juxtaposition of that concept was spectacular.

Ultimately I think Jigokuraku is such a storytelling feat. It's a classic journey-type plot with a dark edge and a thrilling, lovable set of characters. However, its true strength lies in the world-building. There is something so hauntingly beautiful about the story's set-up and slow burn, like being ushered into a rakugo theater or opening an old novel for the author to spin you away in a tale.

Y'all, this **** SLAPS. I'm reading a lot of ongoings at the moment, and out of all of them, Blue Lock is by far the most hype. It's also the only one where I tend to let a few chapters build up so I can read them all at once instead of every couple weeks.

I don't read many sports manga but I used to love sports anime, and this manga gets me even more pumped than Haikyuu. The plot is a little, well, interesting. It's not your typical sports manga since the plot is the antithesis to your generic shounen. I've always loved Kaneshiro ... Muneyuki's works, and Blue Lock has the same underlying dark theme as everything else he writes. Rather than teamwork, Blue Lock is all about "ego", or a bunch of players becoming the greatest by being as selfish as they can. While I've seen darker themes like this in other shounens (eg. Chainsaw Man), this is the first time I've seen a concept like this in a sports context.

I will admit the premise is a little strange. A bunch of high school soccer players (all of which are strikers) get called out to some weird training camp where they have to fight one another in order to produce one super-genius striker. It's truly a death game plot (a genre where Kaneshiro excels), the only difference being that Kaneshiro doesn't kill of characters as randomly and readily as he does in other series. Normally, I'd find that a little disappointing and boring, but at the heart of it, Blue Lock isn't a true death game, it's a sports manga, and not killing off characters gives off plenty of room for all of their development. Which brings me to my next topic, the characters.

Blue Lock's cast is excellent. My only critique is that as the cast expands, new additions have become a little bit trope-y or repetitive and hard to keep track of. At the current stage in the storyline, there's a good percent of the cast that has been relatively unexplored. However, I really loved the original main cast. The characters are excellent, interesting, and play off each other with surprising creativity when we consider that none of them are ever truly trying to work together so much as feed their own egos. My personal favorite is Bachira, whose dynamic with Isagi is almost reminiscent of Ushimitsu and Akashi from Kamisama no Iutoori Ni. He's a weirdo and an excellent player and his development was incredibly entertaining for me to watch. While I would say that nobody is truly extraordinarily original in the series (again, they can be trope-y), the natures of their development and growth make them far more interesting than they appear on paper.

On top of the well-rounded cast and off-beat plot is the artwork. Wow. Blue Lock's artwork isn't too out of the ordinary for a shounen, but it's truly a treat for the eyes. I feel like oftentimes in shounen I can get a little bit disoriented or distracted during fight scenes, but I don't really feel like that with Blue Lock at all. The panels are surprisingly easy to follow (even for someone who doesn't really get soccer like me), and they scream cool. The full-page spreads and close-ups really get my blood pumping, and it really amps up my enjoyment factor. My excitement really goes through the roof while reading this manga.

Overall, if you're looking for a twist on the generic shounen sports plot, Blue Lock is a great work to check out. It may not be the most accurate in terms of the sport (though to be honest, I wouldn't know), but it's really entertaining and features an extremely dynamic cast. It's the type of manga where it's incredibly easy to get swept up into the pacing and waiting impatiently for the next chapter.

I'm only 4 chapters deep but wow, Yamamori Mika strikes again. I'm a big fan of her other works, Hirunaka no Ryuusei and Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet, and so far Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki seems to measure up.

Our MC Is a boy-ish girl nicknamed "Prince" for her pretty face and mannerisms, paired with a rich playboy type. The characters on paper fit pretty generic tropes but the author does a great job of playing on the archetypes in a refreshing, realistic take. The female lead, Yoi, is very likable in my opinion (she looks like a dude but is cute and feminine, and not ... in an exaggerated way) while the male lead, Ichimura, is incredibly competent for a guy in a shoujo. He's straightforward and honest while still maintaining a sense of mysterious charm. As a couple, I think they complement each other well and storytelling style makes it realistic even if the plot is not.

As always, Yamamori Mika's art is beautiful and unique. The facial expressions are always spot on and every panel is truly a treat. I especially liked Yoi's character design, and I felt like the balance between her femininity and masculinity was really spot on.

As a whole, I think Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki had a really promising start for a shoujo. I've been looking for more titles since Tsubaki-chou finished and while the opening for this work didn't hit me in the feels as hard as Tsubaki-chou, it was definitely a refreshing, pleasant read. Honestly, to me it almost has the feeling of a one-shot about side characters in the middle of a more popular serialized shoujo, which I really love.

Edit: Y'all I thought I liked this manga and then I read the latest chapter (54) and I'm seriously starting to question my own taste. If you're a fan of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, this manga is like that trash shoujo Let's Fall in Love that Nozaki pens. I could totally imagine that Murata Mayu is just the pen name of some degenerate bum high school dude who has no idea what romance is and just randomly inserts fluffy chapters and stupid devices that have no basis in plot and somehow manages to make a hit manga because clearly all it takes to make a hit ... manga is not storytelling capability but just some weekly trash with pretty art and a heart squeezing moment at the end and MURATA MAYU HAS THAT FORMULA DOWN PAT. I LITERALLY HATE HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS MANGA. I swear to y'all, I read chapter 54 and I had to sit down ask myself what I did to get to this point in my life. I'm playing limbo with the author right now, I lower the bar for what's acceptable and she just moves it lower. I'm playing a game of chicken with this manga.

This is probably the trashiest shoujo I'm absolutely in love with.

Let me explain. Honey Lemon Soda hits pretty much all the shoujo stereotypes. I mean, the premise is insanely cliche: unpopular average girl MC falls for her school's bad boy hottie. Execution wise, it also ticks all the boxes. Everything from her classmates' over the top reactions, the overdramatic reveal of exes and love interests; these are all things we regularly see in the genre.

But this stupid manga has warmed my little shoujo heart because while it's cliche beyond belief, it does the cliches right. There's a reason why these tropes were popular in the first place, and Honey Lemon Soda exploits that for all it's worth. The good moments are staged, unrealistic, and overdramatic, but they're SO CUTE. If you're looking for some guilty pleasure feel good romance, this is it. I actually hate how much I love it. I've been reading it pretty much since the scanlations first came out, and every time I hop on a manga site it's like the first title I check for updates.

I do also think the series has something to offer with its characters. These days I feel like I read shoujos more for the MCs than the guys, and Uka doesn't disappoint. Well, she does. She's very lightly useless, but the whole point is that she's someone who tries her best and it makes you want to root for her. In fact, Miura, the lead male, flashy as he is, always seems to take the background to Uka. He tends not to get too involved, and while everyone freaks out over him, it's clear that she's the real star. He's kind of just a catalyst to her development. Besides the main pair, the side characters tend to be... well, they don't stick out too much, but they're very sweet when noticed! Even the "villain" characters for some of the story arcs turn out to be nice people, which I guess is pretty typical of shoujo, but Honey Lemon Soda really does the resolutions the right way, and once the arcs of drama are resolved, the author doesn't forget about those characters. The "villain" characters actually make reappearances, which really helps you to like them more.

This kind of brings us to my next point: the story is stupidly overdone but the resolutions make you accept the unrealistic build ups for what they are. This isn't some cute super realistic relatable manga, it's a guilty pleasure reading built on hopes and dreams, okay? There's like 5000 things wrong with it but that's honestly what makes it so good. The kind of stupid plot helps spoon feed readers the cute romantic iconic shoujo moments we're looking for, so it's okay to look past the fact that Uka wasn't actually wearing her dress backwards and other stupid plot holes. I can accept the fact that everyone at their high school overreacts to everything and I can accept Miura's generic sad backstory because the author is so good at milking those end-of-chapter scenes for everything they're worth. The art isn't my favorite style, but it's pretty and really sparkly, and there's a lot of cute chibi inserts which lead to particularly cute and funny scenes, and let's be real, the whole backbone of this manga for me is particular scenes.

So yeah, check it out if you're looking for some escapist feels good content, and I'm gonna go reread.

I've been a fan of Kaneshiro Muneyuki for some time now and Bokutachi no Yarimashita is no exception. Dark and ponderous, it follows four high school boys after they carelessly commit a crime that goes on to torment them for the rest of their lives. It's certainly not your typical manga. The characters are all incredibly flawed and the events and message are uniquely grim. However, like Kaneshiro's other works, it shines in how it forces the reader to rethink the meaning of life and the world around them.

The story begins with Tobio, an ordinary high school boy who spends his time with three other ... questionable friends, including the shrimpy, gossipy Maru, the incredibly lustful Isami, and last but not least, the much-older high school dropout Paisen who throws around his money in order to keep his friends around. When Maru is attacked by a gang from a nearby high school, Tobio and his friends decide to bomb the school as revenge (all over the course of a couple chapters, which goes from 0 to 100 real fast.) Although they commit the crime jokingly, they quickly see the consequences: the death of four students and a hunt for the criminals.

It's incredibly clear from the start: Tobio and his friends are, to be frank, assholes. They're immature. They're materialistic. They care about money, sex, and having fun, without ever really thinking their actions through. However, after their crime, they're forced to develop and change as they run from the law. They each come upon their own answers for right and wrong and struggle to live when burdened with incredible guilt. They don't magically end up good people, and they don't magically end up happy. Even many years after they graduate, they're still plagued with the consequences of their mistakes and unsure with how to move on. However, the change they each go through as they find meaning in their lives is remarkable. Each one of them has personal adventures and personal turning points in their character, including an unexpected pregnancy and a confrontation with parental neglect. What's interesting is how they approach these issues. They each go through their own personal journeys and character arcs and thus end up different places. Kaneshiro Muneyuki carefully illustrates how their lives change as a result of the single incident and turns the four boys into real people, however flawed they may be. He explores their relationships with the people around them as well as one another, and although he covers many honestly terrible things, the raw emotion and the reader's immersion in the story makes it new and thoughtful, rather than graphic and dark simply for the sake of being grotesque.

I have to say, I'm not really huge on the art. However, I also have to admit that it suits the story perfectly. The expressions of the characters in particular are incredibly well-drawn and always go a long way in telling the story since they're just so in-your-face. The art is graphic when it needs to be and subtle when it needs to be. It honestly just works. I'm reminded vaguely of the art in Imawa no Kuni no Alice (Alice in Borderland), my favorite psychological manga, with some of the stylistic decisions (and even some aspects of the character development).

To conclude, Kaneshiro Muneyuki does an excellent job of developing the four friends into their own individual people. Although the series is dark and many of the events are graphic and grotesque, the uncomfortable feeling the scenes leave you with also serve the story's purpose: to make you think about how you're living your life. In this case, each character asks himself the same question: what is the meaning of life and how can you move on from your past? As much as they try to move on from their mistakes, they are forced to confront them and deal with their feelings of remorse and guilt indefinitely. It ends with a note of hope as they each continue to struggle through life. However, no matter how much they progress, they will always remember the bombing and the fact that they were the ones who did it.

At first glance, Bambi to Dhole is an incredibly stereotypical shoujo. You have a two-faced main heroine who acts super sweet on the outside but is actually kind of rude, and a male lead who appears to be a "lone-wolf" on the outside but is actually incredibly sweet and caring. However, it quickly evolved into something much more meaningful and mature than your typical high school romance. The emphasis on family and feeling like you belong is reminiscent of Taiyou no Ie (House of Light) and as a whole works to make the story incredibly moving.

The story on its own is relatively forgettable: you have ... an outwardly sweet girl, Tobe "Bambi" Yukimi, who disguises her feelings, and a semi-aggressive guy, Nagasawa Tetsu, who turns out to be a huge family-guy. It is revealed early on in the story that Yukimi is adopted and therefore doesn't feel as though she fits in around her family, and Tetsu is actually father to a 3 year-old son, Raichi. These elements could quickly send a story astray if undeveloped, but Bambi to Dhole really develops each aspect of the plot in spite of its brevity. The story moves quickly though realistically, and helps to develop themes of change and belonging while remaining enjoyable and interesting.

However, where Bambi to Dhole really shines is in character development. For a short manga of only 21 chapters, it is incredibly surprising to find characters that grow as much as Yukimi and Tetsu. Yukimi in particular started off as incredibly obnoxious to me, however I was soon surprised with her maturity and determination to change. Her character transcends many shoujo cliches, such as being indecisive or avoidant, and she handles her problems realistically which makes her all the more relatable. Although she undoubtedly does cry a pretty decent amount, it's always believable. She changes to tackle her issues with her friends and Tetsu by talking to them straight-out, so many problems that would have become nothing but sources for drama in other shoujos here only serve to develop her character further. As a result, by the end of the manga, Yukimi has become incredibly relatable and admirable in comparison to her old self. Much of this change is attributed to the presence of Tetsu, who serves as a kind of anchor for Yukimi and serves as a caring presence who encourages her to talk about her feelings more. In the process, Tetsu also develops, moving on from his past love and accepting the changes that come his way.

The relationships between the characters are equally developed, most notably being with Tetsu, Yukimi, their friends, and their families. As the series progresses, Yukimi starts to open up to her friends more, and the friendship they display is really touching and it feels very real. Although they may display jealousy or momentary anger, they always accept one another for each's faults and make up with a hug. Yukimi also starts to open up to her family, allowing them to see parts of her character that she normally would have covered up with a smile. Tetsu shows similar developments: he quickly becomes friends with the class and cherishes Raichi. He also ends up moving on from his past love, learning to accept and live with his feelings while falling in love with Yukimi. THe relationship between Yukimi and Tetsu is incredibly touching because it starts out as so much more than just romance (in fact, I almost wished it had stayed just a friendship sometimes) and they just really helped one another to grow.

One minor complaint would just be the art and the style of the manga. There were a lot of flashbacks, some of which seemed awkwardly placed, and the art was relatively generic. However, these flaws were far overshadowed by the complexity of the characters and the plot.

In conclusion, Bambi to Dhole shows incredible maturity and development when addressing themes of family and acceptance. As Yukimi and Tetsu grow, they learn so much about one another and the people around them, and manage to open up to the important people in their lives and each other. The story was shown in a very realistic way, in spite of the mature ideas of child parenting and being an orphan which have sometimes been abused in other manga. As a whole, Bambi to Dhole really managed to positively develop the relationship between two relatively broken people in a way that helped them to not only to accept themselves but also allow everyone else the same opportunity.

Kamisama no Iutoori Ni, like many other psychological death games, seeks to solve the question of why we are alive. Does it succeed? I honestly have no idea.

I don't write many reviews, but after finishing this I felt motivated to type something out. The author, Kaneshiro Muneyuki, is the mind behind several other works I enjoy, including Jagaaaaaan and Bokutachi ga Yarimashita, both of which are pretty messed up and show the raw tendencies of human nature. However, the prologue/prequel to Kamisama no Iutoori Ni, called Kamisama no Iutoori, fell far short of my expectations. I read Kamisama no Iutoori Ni roughly half a year ... after finishing its prequel, and I can say that it far outshines the first installment. We follow our main character, Yasuto Akashi, through a series of games based off of traditional Japanese playground games. The plot doesn't stand out as particularly different among death game stories: survive all of the games and you will be given the ability of the Gods. However, the typical survival game genre is executed not flawlessly, but with great skill. The simplicity of most of the games helps to show this: the rules are basic but there's always a twist which helps the characters to grow and develop.

Although the characters are also relatively predictable, the way the plot yanks them around really helps each to shine. Most are given enough time to showcase the dreams and beliefs, before cruelly being shut down. In fact, even when you know they're coming, the character deaths are well-placed, some with dramatic exits, some dying from a simple game of rock-paper-scissors. The fact that anyone can die at any minute is always a given.

Of course, this generally excludes our main character who is protected with an incredibly thick layer of plot armor. Akashi is a generic shounen hero: selfless, brave, and trustworthy. He goes through the ranks of the story motivated by his friendship with Senichi Aoyama, a fellow soccer player, Mochida Rui, the first girl he meets in the games, Natsukawa Megu (Nutmeg), a girl he later falls in love with, and Ushimitsu Kiyoshirou, an eccentric guy who takes to our protagonist. Akashi doesn't really stand out in any way or another as exceptionally different from the average hero, but he certainly serves his purpose as the ultimate selfless being. As his friends die, Akashi somehow manages to survive, against almost impossible odds, but carries all of their feelings within them, a trait essential to a truly shounen hero. Until the very last battle, he refuses to give up, and truly believes that he can save everyone and bring them all back to life when he becomes a god. Although this attitude makes him obnoxious to some, it ultimately serves as a shining light that many within the games are drawn to, leading to his large group of friends and consequently the large base of decently important characters. This group of characters is crucial to establishing the many answers to the ultimate question: why do we live?

For Akashi, the answer is clear: he lives to carry on the hopes of everyone around him, and to save them all in the end. But the answers vary for everyone. Akashi's foil, Amaya, lives purely for selfish reasons and wants to destroy the world. Ushimitsu lives for the sake of Akashi. Takahata Shun lives to kill the god of the world. While the answers are different, they all aim to portray the idea of doing what you want to do. Whether that means sacrificing yourself or living in fear or just going about causing mass destruction, it is important to follow your own beliefs until the very end. This is shown time and time again: with the tomfoolery powers the characters are given in the middle, or with Akashi's decision to save Natsukawa over killing an enemy. Live for yourself. Or, in Hanna Felix's words, "Just live how you want to live."

Does Kamisama no Iutoori Ni succeed in its goal? I don't think I can really say. But it certainly makes a point. In the biggest mess of a world, the most important thing you can do is stay true to yourself. If you're interested in death games, I recommend that you give this one a try. While it may not be perfect, it certainly shows the struggles of man and that hope can arise in the darkest of situations. In true shounen death game fashion.

I don't normally write reviews, but I noticed that this show was pretty controversial in comments/review sections, so I figured I throw my opinion into the ring as well.

A quick summary: Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish) follows high schooler Yasuraoka Hanabi and her love for her teacher who has been somewhat of a brother figure to her since childhood, Kanai Narumi. From the start, it's clear that her affections are unrequited, and to make up for the loneliness she feels, she gets together with Awaya Mugi, a guy in her grade who is also hopelessly in love with a teacher, Minagawa Akane. Although they don't ... have feelings for each other, they have a strangely sexual relationship with little communication involved. The story, from the start, is somewhat depressing and treated maturely, which seems odd for a show about teenagers. I also found the age gaps a little bit weird, but then again, this is Japan, so I can't say I'm that surprised. Honestly, the plot just felt iffy to me, considering the tone and disturbing premise of the show.

Despite my early qualms with story, I still found myself hooked from the first episode. The show is beautifully animated and the soundtrack was one of the best aspects (especially the ending song by Sayuri-- though I might be a little biased.) However, what I really fell in love with was the characters and character development.

To start, there's the main character, Hanabi. She's somewhat of a loner and doesn't have many friends (other than one girl, Ecchan) and many admirers. She also has a very pessimistic and mature view of the world, and despite the fact that she says that she's fine with being alone, it's clear that she struggles with her loneliness. To be all honest, I don't normally like overly deep characters like herself, but Hanabi keeps things real with her occasional blunt comments/thoughts and her self awareness. I found her problems to be somewhat relatable as well in spite of the weirdness of the plot, and much of it was due to conflict between autonomy and dependence on others which grew muddled to her a few episodes into the show. Her behaviors definitely break a lot of social norms and moral code, but I think that her reasoning for them is surprisingly understandable. Although she struggles with various drama throughout the show, she views herself and her problems as pathetic, and seems to realize that her actions aren't really right. This is what fuels her character development, along with her desire for independence. Hanabi starts off in the show as relatively independent, though a little insecure, but this takes a quick turn when her relationship with Mugi begins. Soon, and also partially caused by provocation from Akane, she starts to rely on the affections of others to feel good about herself. This continues for most of the rising action in the series, but, after a series of events, Hanabi realizes that she's becoming dependent and strives to feel comfortable alone again. Her development was definitely what I found most interesting about the show and kept the plot moving for me.

In comparison, the male protagonist, Mugi, seemed to move in a very different direction from Hanabi. Although both started out in the same boat, while Hanabi strove to regain her independence, Mugi started to lose hold of his through his odd relationship with Akane. I originally liked Mugi as much if not more than Hanabi, but this regression into dependence kind of ruined my opinion of him. However, he did redeem himself at the end in my eyes, as did many of the other characters that I originally disliked but began to appreciate.

In conclusion, Kuzu no Honkai is definitely understandably controversial due to the strange approach to a teenage romance and the questionable morals that were introduced through the main characters' relationship. However, in spite of this, I found it to be enjoyable mainly due to the dynamic characters and their development, as well as the extremely well done art and soundtrack.