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Series Review: Mamonotachi wa Katazuke Rarenai

Click here for my first impression of Mamonotachi wa Katazuke Rarenai.

Basics

Genre: Shounen, Fantasy, Slice of Life

Status: Completed

Original Run: 2018 - 2020

Number of Volumes: 4

Number of Chapters: 25

Review 

If I were to summarize Mamonotachi wa Katazuke Rarenai in one sentence it would be “✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Cleaning is magic! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧”. If I were to really summarize it, Mamonotachi wa Katazuke Rarenai is about an unlikely duo who go on a series of adventures experiencing feels and imparting cleaning tips along the way.

If you were to boil down this series overall, I guess its true message is that humans and monsters are not so different from one another, and it is important for both sides to take steps to slowly close the gap between them. In this case, the thing the unites the two groups together is the power of cleaning.

Is this series kind of cheesy? Yes. But is it an enjoyable read? Yes. So give Mamonotachi wa Katazuke Rarenai a try and feel your mind and soul being cleansed by the power of cleaning (though it won’t help clean your room). I’d recommend it to people who enjoy fantasy, slice of life, monsters, and *✧･ﾟ:* cleaning *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧. Yeah, I couldn’t help it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this review! I hope you will check out Alice in Mangaland for more manga reviews in the future! Arigato gozaimasu! Thank you!

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Zense Coupling

Alt name/s: The Dangers in My Heart

(Shoujo, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Reincarnation, Supernatural)

Description: Even if my age and position have changed, my feelings for you will never change! A romantic comedy featuring four couples who've been reincarnated, having been given a second chance at love after being driven apart the first time around. (x)

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Notes: Did someone say reincarnation romance? Then this hybrid 4-koma style manga is sure to sweep you off of your feet! It focuses on four different couples, all with their own individual quirks and circumstances, while intertwining the perspectives into an overarching story. It’s currently in its last leg of scanlating thanks to the quick releases of the scanlation group behind it, so it’ll be a good binge read for those just picking it up!

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spy x family: the dark comedy & wholesome romantic's dream

do you like reading manga? do you enjoy the humor of gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun? do you marvel at the action scenes of one punch man? do you appreciate the softness of any kyoani production? if yes to all, go read spy x family! if no or hesitant, i'm here to Change Your Mind by introducing you to the series!!!

the story follows our main characters: loid forger (code name: twilight), yor briar (code name: thorn princess) & anya (test subject: 007). code names, you ask? test subject??? what am i going on about!?

the premise of the story comes from loid's newest assignment: operation strix, where he must work undercover to get close to & probe information from donovan desmond, the leader of the national unity party & threat to peace. to do so, since his target is primarily associated with an elite private school, loid must get married & have a child. through various circumstances, he's able to adopt the orphaned (& telepathetic) anya & marry the naive (yet deadly) yor briar, which gives us our unconventional forger family.

the action of this series is amazing. if you're not a fan of fighting or blood, view with discretion because spy x family does not disappoint with its feature of action nearly every chapter. it's the kind of anime-type action that makes you wonder is that even humanly possible? but doesn't take you out of the moment. every sequence involving yor fighting is *chef's kiss* absolutely captivating.

the COMEDY. is SO GOOD. it fits so naturally with the setting, which is a pre-modern/post-industrial age, also. one of the best examples to showcase the type of humor is when anya realizes a bomb is going to go off through a vision of a clocktower blowing up in the future, but...

putting a telepathetic child into a family that 1) has a father whose occupation is literally built upon secret identities & 2) has a mother whose outward ditziness completely juxtaposes her killer instincts is rife for comedic moments. it's a mixture of loid+yor hiding their true selves & anya struggling to keep up appearances as a smart kid who in reality reads minds to cheat on tests. spy x family is clever, quirky & there's something to laugh about every page.

the forger family itself is where the comedy shines, too, because anya is a girl who is hungry for excitement & adventure. she's a kid no older than six being raised by two adults who have no idea how to raise a child, let alone be normal. as a result, this unintentionally leads to "normal" familial shenigans all the time, and it's funny, cute, and heartwarming.

but past the action & comedy, there are moments that make your heart twist in absolute adoration. because the forgers, even if it's a ruse, quickly become a family: yor learning to care for herself & others; anya finding friends, family, a home; loid oblivious to growing fondness of his wife & daughter. the chemistry between the characters is incredible, genuine on all fronts & undeniably wholesome.

and, while it's not technically a romance, spy x family presents the fake-relationship/domestic au hybrid you can't help but love. loid & yor are great on their own, but together they're basically an unstoppable power couple as parents (+spy & assassin). it's likely a slow burn development as well where i appreciate the smallest intimate moments between them, and yet i still can wish for more.

plus, it also helps that anya is the cutest daughter in the world who also thinks her mama & papa belong together!

in summation, this series has so much potential & i highly recommend giving it a read! or if you aren't a fan of manga, the series is highly likely to have an ANIME in the works given the manga's success, so be on the lookout!!!! (however, it'll probably be a while since there aren't many chapters/volumes out yet.)

tl;dr spy x family is so good & i love the forger family so much 😭💞

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Saijaku Teima wa Gomi Hiroi no Tabi o Hajimemashita.

A manga about a girl who (had to) run away from home, travelling, surviving and making her way through life with no one but her tamed slime

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Manga Recommendation: Koroshi Ai

Entering the 9th week of self-quarantine, I can see that all of my schedules have been cleared out this week and even next week, I don’t have anything particular to do after finishing my thesis viva and revisions and it’s been two months since my last manga recommendation, so I decided why not go back to reviewing manga for all my quarantine peeps out there? ‘Cause you know, we need to stay productive and I think doing a review on things that I love is one way for me to stay productive and enjoy myself (an excuse for me to read manga). 

This time, I chose a ‘manga’ which came from Japan instead of my usual manhwa recommendation cause I know that I recommend a lot of Korean comics but for the sake of diversity, I’m going to share one good comic from Japan and it’s one of my favorite too!

Koroshi Ai (Love of Kill)

To be honest, I’ve read this manga twice or thrice because the manga is still ongoing and I have such a short term memory, that I would be rereading it again after so long. But I was never bored reading it, that shows how I really enjoy this manga: I don’t mind reading it again. Koroshi Ai was written by Fe on 2015 and it’s still ongoing till today. I hope to reread it again since its been so long.

Anyway, what drew me to this manga is the theme! I have a soft spot for stories involving assassins or spies and this manga is all about it. So, just a quick summary of this manga, it revolves around two main characters called Chateau Dankworth, the female main character and Son Ryang Ha, the male character. Chateau is a bounty hunter under a company while Ryang Ha is an assassin not affiliated with any company. Both met when Chateau is doing her missions and he showed interest on her. Thus, the start of their relationship started from there and since there are a lot of surprises in this story, I won’t really tell more than that. Just a hint, their relationship goes way back before the first time she met on a mission. 

Well, I hope you’re interested even with my lousy summary. I tried summarizing it without copy-paste from the synopsis. I have been doing this since my first series of manga recommendation because I wanted to practice on giving my best insight and summary for every manga I love. I hope you will like this manga just like I do! So, don’t mind my unappealing introduction and go straight for the manga! I’m kind of doing a warm-up in writing this manga recommendation since it’s been two months and I’ve not read a lot of manga during this whole quarantine. 

Another side note, an obvious genre of this manga is romance, but I don’t really read it for the romance since they’re not always love dovey. In fact, they’re just like dogs and cats, you could say there is a Mr an Mrs Smith vibe from them. They’re not really the cheesy ones you read from high school romance manga but you would still love their interaction anyway. And I also love Indian-kun, the side characters, hahaha. Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy reading this during your quarantine!

-Reina

PS. In hope for you guys to be riled up about this manga, here is a sneak peek I found!

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Manga Recommandation

Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga

Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga is among one of my favourite manga in the time travel genra. The only problem i have with this manga is that it have slow updates ༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ. Its so good that it pains me to wait over a month just to get a new chapter then was left to rot with a cliffhanger. Im also sad because the series light novel have just ended (12 Vol I think) but i cant read it because there is no english version of it so a Bish is sad ಥ_ಥ.

But the manga itself is a very well written and i enjoy reading it very much. The MC is very relatable and it really hurts my stomach to read it because the manga is quite funny i have to say. I also learn quite a bit about agriculture from the manga. 11/10 I would recommand to read this manga.

This manga is avalable to be read at Mangadex

Here’s the manga sypnosis

One fateful day, a girl time slipped into the Sengoku Era. It was an abrupt enough event to be dubbed god’s whim, done to sate hellish boredom. The girl has no power to change the world. She was a very ordinary, common, and plain girl that can be found anywhere. And that girl can do no more than a single thing. Survive the Sengoku Era ——– that’s all.

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Title: Yuukoku no Moriarty / Moriarty the Patriot ( 憂国のモリアーティ)

Author: TAKEUCHI Ryousuke (Illustrated by MIYOSHI Hikaru)

Genre:  Drama, Historical, Mystery & Shounen   

Status: Ongoing (11 Volumes as of 16th of April)

Plot Summary

The story of Sherlock Holmes, reimagined with Moriarty as the protagonist and exploring his motivation in becoming the greatest criminal Britain has ever seen. Thoughts

One of a kind manga that truly portrays the other party’s perspective. This has become as some sort of origin story for the supposed antagonist in the original work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and has caught me wanting to read more. Moriarty here was portrayed so brilliantly that this version uniquely stands out from the rest, even though they are all one and the same. It is interesting to read it from his side, too, as I get to know more about what is going through that cunning and clever head of his! Of course, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are portrayed differently here and I was slightly put off by Sherlock, nonetheless, they make each other their best (or should I say worse?) rivals in this series. I was ecstatic to learn that this will soon have an anime adaptation and I cannot wait for it to release!

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Nobody probably asked for this but the AC Cobra from Fugo Keiji’s Opening/Episode 1...

...is an actual car—a 1967 AC Cobra 427 Roadster! It’s accurate down to the tiniest details (paint job, shape of the sideview mirrors, radiator, etc.).

An original 1967 edition only costs between $1-2 million USD (at a recent auction, it sold for just under $3 million USD) so Daisuke giving a cheque of ¥1 billion (about $9.33 million USD) is an even bigger flex than paying double for property damage.

Bonus:

The car that Daisuke first drives seems to be a 2019 Bentley Flying Spur due to its characteristic crosshatch grilles and overall hood shape. It costs around $450,000 USD.

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Kenrantaru Grande Scène

Alt name/s: The Magnificent Grand Scene

(Seinen, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports)

Description: When Kanade was very young, she went to a ballet performance of her neighbour, Risa, and was overwhelmed by her amazing dancing. She decided then and there that she wanted to dance like Risa, and her parents agreed to let her take ballet lessons. Ballet is much harder than Risa's beautiful dancing may have led her to believe, but Kanade is determined to endure and become a wonderful ballerina! (x)

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Notes: An incredibly immersive story about ballet and what it takes to become a professional dancer. Kanade’s progress in her craft is a slow, steady, and natural development that really delves into the trials and struggles that she has to face. No prior knowledge of ballet needed to enjoy this!

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Saihate no Paladin

Alt name/s: The Faraway Paladin

(Seinen, Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Isekai)

Description: William is the lone human in a city of the dead. Born with vague memories of a past life and raised by a group of undead, William must discover what circumstances brought him to this city and these people as well as what it means to not just exist, but to live a full life. (x)

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Notes: The worldbuilding is definitely one of the highlights of this manga, as well as Will himself. Even though the story is tagged as an isekai, it could be easily ignored and can be seen as a high fantasy setting with good character growth and development.

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Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu

Alt name/s: The Dangers in My Heart

(Shounen, Comedy, Romance, School Life, Slice of Life)

Description: A "fearsome psycho-thriller" centering on "the dark side of adolescence." The manga centers on Kyōtarō Ichikawa, a person at the very bottom caste of his school, and who hides murderous impulse that lurks at the very bottom of his soul.

In actuality, a super sweet RomCom between a messed up boy and a bright (but strange), beautiful girl. (x)

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Notes: Some people get misled by the summary, since at its core, this is a fluffy slow romance between a chuunibyou boy and a happy-go-lucky popular girl. The relationship between the two leads is a treat to see develop. The author is amazing at adding subtlety to the character’s expressions and actions!