#manga reviwes

[syncchiniboii]

Hey, y'all. I'm Kaine. Others call me Ken. And I'm your weird yet supportive uncle that lives in your attic.

✨Persona

✨Fire Emblem

✨Final Fantasy

✨Bleach

✨Code Geass

✨Dragon Ball

✨Quintessential Quintuplets

✨Metal Gear

✨Spider-Man

✨Yu-Gi-Oh!

✨Ratchet and Clank

✨Devil May Cry

[darkeraven22]

VIZ Komi Can't Communicate Volume 5 Review Chapter Sixty-Eight (Digital)

How Much For That Tadano In A Maid Outfit? Priceless? Ok. If You Say So. So apparently they have an extra maid outfit that just so happens to fit Tadano perfectly… I call hijinxs on that one. Also I should try to memorize his first name as his sister is going to show up this Chapter… I guess I’ll just call her lil sis for now. So apparently Najimi has been bitting at the proverbial bit for…

[bubblewhale]

Im catching up on reading jjk manga so spoilers i guess - if there is still someone who truly hasn't been spoilt yet

Gojo vs sukuna is the most STRESSFUL shit i've ever read (and i know the outcome) how did anyone ever think he would win?? Any reading comprehension there? The whole setup is so tragic and dramatic with the date and megumi's body and everybody kicking him for good luck he is a literal sacrifical lamb

(Lots of gojo-jesus metaphors btw. I do think he'll somhow be reviwed in christmas chapter for the story symetry sake and if you don't know it's that one tiktok user theory that gege is writing a cyclical story and since he even matches up anime and manga i'm inclined to believe it)

Also last time i was this into fan theories was before tobi-madara-obito reveal...

And it does NOT seem like gege dislikes gojo to me - it feels like he's bluffing so we'd believe he'd really off him the confirmed death seems sus aswell to me

Also i love yuji he is my fav mc since naruto

Hot take - i don't care about yuuta at all lol i was mad at him for killing geto but he was reedemed by keeping his promise of not letting gojo kill his bff again

I love maki and i think that the twin thing with mai repeats the theme of a protagonist integrating their ego-shadow to get stronger/win ex yuji winning over mahito after he accepted him as "him"

Also sukuna is my most beloved and simpped upon viliain right up there with madara and i adore uraume i like the kitchen theory tho

I rly love geto too and i haven't liked a snarky plain brown hair brown eyes ponytail and pierced ears twink that much since SHIKAMARU i have ton of hcs for him

Hate hate kenjaku tho so glad he's offed

People being horny for choso, toji and nanami... even togo... i get it but it doesn't get me. I like higuruma and kusakabe and yuji and sukuna.

Also i don't rly get why gojo is most loved char ever lol. But ok

[papers4me]

Golden Kamuy has ended! T__T. did you like the ending? I felt weird, to be honest.

Hi anon! Yes, GK manga ended.

I loved all the final chapters in the final arc except the last one! I'm kinda underwhelmed by how desperate the last chapter was trying to wrap things in a " happily ever after" feel. I mean I've always knew that despite the tragic stories of every convict, 7th division guy, & the protagonists, the story will end in a hopeful note cuz of the " future" theme. But it was done kinda poorly imo, all respect to Noda regardless.

Here's What I liked in the final two chapters:

Yumeko: loved her so much! sometimes very minor characters steal the entire ending!!!! She started her story being in love with sugi, it was a teenager/childhood romantic love, she even begged sugi to take her with him. but when he refused, she didn't abandon her life for him. She married toragi, not cuz sugi said so, but really toragi was everything sugi wasn't! Yes, he wasn't handsome. but he was mature, responsible & never ran away from his issues. Even in his wedding night, he faced sugi with how he felt upon seeing him back & faced umeko with how inferior he felt that her former lover is back. Umkeo calmly assured him that she'll choose him over sugi even if sugi would kidnap her. She chose to love her husband & build a loving marriage. After toragi's death, she wasn't a damsel in distress waiting for sugi to man up & come or cure her eyes or whatever. She moved on. She accepted a widower's proposal & chose wisely. It's obvious that the new husband loved her as he paid for her eyes surgery & funded her own small business that suits her. Upon seeing sugi again, after many years, she didn't recall the years of lost childhood nor did it ignite her teenage love. She was gladly surprised but sugi has become a stranger to her. a kind person from the far past. I really love her. Hands down the strongest character without holding a sword, or facing villains, or being in a death train. Being mature & moving on is the hardest theme in GK that tons of hard men failed at! & Umeko did it with few panels.

Tsurumi: I loved everything abt his journey & ending! Noda did wonders in compacting Tsurumi's entire emotions in one single silent panel! PERFECT! Tsurumi's face upon seeing his wife & daughter's bones gone forever & upon realizing he did NOT choose them at the end. This silent Panel was Noda's best writing hands down in the entire series. It goes to show that you dont need pages of monologue or exposition or tons of panels to convey a character's inner feeling. Tsurumi lived & died not accepting his role in his wife & daughter's death. He lived & died blaming wilk. His grief & guilt were so overwhelming for him. Best thing is that his greed & lust for power was exposed too, in the same panel! He was not given any salvation till the end & he chose his own journey.

Ogata: I talked before in depth abt my opinion of Ogata's story & death. Great writing & loved it all.

Shirashi: him running after sugi & asirpa was beautiful, him stealing the gold was so awesome! Why would the gold be buried forever? if no body wants it, Shirashi can take it. lol!

. Sugimoto taking his share from the gold before leaving the well. Awesome! Sugo contributed in finding the gold. He is one of the original pursuer to even convince Asirpa to start hunting it. It was a deal between two ppl with contract, shares & equal partnership. Asirpa can decide to disown her share or hate the gold or call it satan or whatever, that's her part. She has no right to deny sugi his share which she agreed upon initailly. Sugi only took his share nothing more.

Sugi throwing his share at tsurumi & leaving Toragi/ Uneko's share untouched in his pockets was awesome! he has a right to abandon his share but he made a promise to toragi & he'll try ro keep it even in the supposed death.

Koito's growth was well written!

I'm fine wit the Ainu issue not fixed or the central not exposed, it was never the purpose of the story. As I keep saying GK is a story abt ppl's journeys & choices. The ethnic minority, gold hunt, central are plot tools to create struggles for the characters.

.---What I didn't like:

1. (sugimoto's & the protagonist curse):

Wrapping up the protagonist internal issues was done weakly, imo. unforgettably, Noda wasnt better than most Manga or story writers in this regard. it's so common for writers to perfectly wrap the side characters struggles but leave the protag till the last moment & gush everything in weird exposition or an over the top climax. Protags carry the story's themes, GK is Sugi's story, but authors think that if they present the protag issues or start wrapping them up before the finale, the readers will NOT read the last chapter.... Why?? do they think that ppl ONLY follow the protag?? why the over the top climax to milk the readers feelings for the ptotag one more time? it really cheapens the story...

A lot of authors do that.. Even AOT's isyama did that cheap protag's struggle milking till even after the character's death... In GK, Noda wanted us to fear for sugi's life & went to great lengths to ensure his supposed death even to the point of pinning sugi with a freaken sword to a metal train's drowning body! wth! I never once thought sugi will die from the beginning of the manga. not even for a split second. Not cuz he's the protag, but his death would go against tons of GK themes. So I was worried reading how noda kept making it harder & harder for sugi to be alive becuz I knew that the only one in trouble is Noda himself! How would he fix that cuz sugi is 100% surviving, only to be met with the final chapter jumping that altogether....TIME SKIP fix everything you guys... wow. one of the most underwhelming scenes that I've come across recently. lol. Sugi will be saved off screen cuz sugi is immortal. meh~

2. Sugimoto emotionally & psychologically completely healed in the time skip. simply because we must be caught up with sugi's face down with tsurumi till the end, if sugi's issues were dealt with earlier then the over the top climax wouldn't be so over the top. Sugi accepted his past, his sins, & is ready for the future in the 6 months off screen healing process. He comes to meet umeko with content, tells asirpa that his homewon isnt his home anymore, but it was whever he eats food with her. One silent panel can explain everything about a character. but 3 pages of exposition can do nothing if it didnt feel earned.

Unlike Umeko, sugi is the protagwho we followed his story, One of Sugi's issues were that he was good for nothing, makes a huge deal from nothing ( Umeko was happily married with healed eyes, while he was hunting for gold & hating himself). how things would be different if sugi learnt to face his issues! that's his journey. Sugi learning to accept himself, that's what we MUST see. it's not abt romantic love with Umeko or asirpa. nor comfort food. He convinced himself he has a seat in hell the last time we saw him in the train, time skip! he chose a peaceful food filled future with asirpa.. bummer..

Sugi & asirpa ending up together is 50% expected. even if sugi didnt show any romantic feeling during the whole story. I'm thankful to Noda for not making sugi fall in love with what Noda described as 12-13 years old child during the manga! From sugi's side, she was a precious partner in a journey, the 3 years time skip wasnt ambiguous at all in telling their future. Asrpa is growing to be an adult woman & is spending all her time with him & we know she's head over heels in love with him. in the 3 years time skip & beyond, sugi can fall in love with her if he sees her as a woman, which he will, because the theme is happily future & new type of partnership. within the story, they renewed their partnership twice & each time with new equal perspective. in the implied future, they'll do their 3rd partnership renewal with new equal terms as wife & husband. I have no issues with all that. I'm not a shipper of anything except good writing! XD, but I really wished that sugi parted ways with asrpa when they were in his hometown to learn to heal & find himself & then 3 years time skip, he comes back to her!!!! better? at least it gives depth to him even if it's off screen, it will imply, he is working on himself, bot tada~~~~ perfectly healed & happy!

2. Tsukushima:Oh boy, this is a hard one cuz I LOVE tsukushima! but he was spared any kind of punishment, didnt regret anything, didnt grow, didn't even let go of tsurumi, didnt reap what he sow, he just escaped everything. He was one of the best written characters until the finale......

3. Ushiyama's death was so unnecessary. Perhaps Noda killed him cuz it's convenient? he was one of those characters with one path. He's been the same since his first appearance & the story has too many strong characters? cutting him from the scene makes the finale harsher? I duno. It did nothing story-wise. Asirpa would have shot Ogata regardless of Ushiyama's death, cuz she swore to protec sugi if he'd face death. so, again, why?

do i still love gk? YES! Do I think it's well-written? YES. I'm not a fan of the simple fan servicey feel of it, it has major writing issues in my perspective, but I LOVE gk.

To me, Noda delivered weak ending, not horrible ending! Thank you nOda for the great time I spent reading GK! respect !

[aviiyu]

Arifureta: A Review!

Who acres if this is supposed to be an OC blog? We’re talking about this masterpiece of an isekai please and thank you

[This is the light novel, aka the source material of Arifueta. No, that was a lie actually. The source is the webnovel, but this is just as good!]

Volume length: 421 pages [over 50 were bonus content]

Age rating: Teen [13+], however light novels usually don’t have the teen plus [16+] age rating, so I will rate it Teen+ due to some fanservice-y illustrations and somewhat graphic descriptions of violence

Now let’s talk my review!

This novel started out as a fairly typical isekai. Our protagonist, Hajime, was transported to another world during lunch break, along with the rest of his class. This includes the popular Kaori and heroic Kouki. However, Hajime’s stats are far below those of his classmates. While everyone else is overpowered, he’s incredibly average!

Wow, that sounds... like your boring, ordinary isekai? How could this be when I’m about to give a remarkably positive review?! Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me go into detail!

Hajime is a fantastic protagonist!

I’m not kidding, for someone who starts so average he’s incredibly entertaining.

[Mild spoilers in the next paragraph]

About 50 pages in Hajime stumbles into the depths of a dungeon, presumed dead by his classmates and alone in what would be dangerous territory for even his most powerful classmates. After an ill-fated encounter with an overpowered bear, his mindset takes a complete, 100% turn. Instead of the ‘nice guy’ persona he’s displayed thus far, he becomes a much more dangerous protagonist who’s willing to fight to het back to the surface and, ultimately, back home.

The best part is that Hajime actually has to work to become overpowered! Not to mention each fight becomes more and more dangerous and he almost dies even with his rapidly increasing abilities. He also gets a stopper on his power levels after some time, so he likely will never spiral into someone like Maple, the protagonist of the anime Bofuri.

Another thing that sets this manga apart is the detail this world takes on! Each level of the dungeon we crawl through is described just enough to enter the world ourselves. The fight scenes are also depicted wonderfully! Good fight scenes are difficult to write and these were a ton of fun to experience.

Overall, I’d say the plot is 11/10! However, I will warn you that the anime is known for being a bad adaption and horribly rushed [20 minutes takes you through over 200 pages of the novel?!] so please check out the light novels or manga adaption if you’re considering giving this series a try.

Thank you for reading my review! If you’d like please tell me what you think or recommend some anime/manga/light novels for me to check out next. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to draw some fanart of my favorite vampire!

[sakuraharunogirl]

Quick review of this swimsuit. Seashell bikini by @spreepicky This is so comfortable and so cute to where out to the beach! The colors are perfect and really stand out! This swimsuit also comes with 2 options for straps either the pearl straps or the bikini ties. There are also different styles to choose from on the website! This is such a cute product and I recommend it completely! 🌊🐚👙 (Photo by @horsecrazy94 ) #sexycosplayer #manga #anime #cosplay #cosplayer #beach #bikini #swimsuit #reviw #seashell #seashellbikini #spreepicky #cute

[stalkerkyoko]

interspecies reviwers Furry town

Manga tamer...

YEAH there’s still nipple ( Just saw an acutal rabbit one)

If you can’t stand the heat.... DO I BLAME funi for wussing out nah kind of.

[askthewitchlady]

Ajin: Demi-human (season 1) Review

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Oh my goodness was this a slog to get through, Three days people, it took me three days to get through 13 episodes Because OMG  Setting aside the fact this is some of the ugliest 2d to 3d rig work I have ever seen, I have never seen a show have some much going on with out achieving anything.  Ok ok ok let me start this properly.

In the world there are being known as Ajin, these Demi-human beings are rare with only three known cases in Japan, the Ajin are capable of resurrecting from fatal wounds making them Semi-immortal, they also have the ability to summon being known as ‘black ghosts’ which can be used for all sorts of things.  There is unfortunately no way of knowing if a person is an Aijin until they suffer some for of mortal injury at that point their body will regenerate and they will live this is the case for Kei Nagai, a high school student studying to be a doctor.  While the government of Japan have led people to believe that Ajin are kept in protective custody it is learned that not only are they but most other countries use Aijin as test subjects for medicines and weapons, including life fire testing, because of their regenerative abilities.

Story time

17 years ago during a war in an unnamed African nation the first Ajin was discovered.  Reffered to as a soldier of god because he could not be killed the soldier was immobilized and claimed as property of the US government.

Now Kei Nagai is an apathetic highschool student studying to be a doctor on his mothers demand. While to his ‘friends’ he seems like a cheerful if easily taken advantage of boy the truth is he is apathetic and cut off from the people around him seeing only the value they have to him personally.  While walking to school he and his friends note another boy their age Kaito sitting outside a convenience store they comment on how weird he is and question if Kei is his friend after Kaito waves to him, Kei denies this and they walk on.

At school the subject of Ajins is brought up because of their value in the medical feild, one of Keis friends shows another classmate a video of Inhumane testing on an Ajin subject.  The boy also asks his teacher if the truth about the high reward for an Ajins capture is true.  For some reason this startles Kei and his reaction draws attention so he asks if Ajin aren’t really human.  His teacher says they are not.

Reminiscing he vaguely remembered the death of a childhood pet, after burying it while trying to console his sister he wonders about death and witness’ something strange.  curious about the memory he decides to visit his sister in the hospital and tries to ask her about what she remebers but she refuses to discuss it being outright hostile to him.

still lost in thought and wondering about Ajin as well as flicking through Study cards Kei misses the stop light and begins to cross the street before being hit full on by a truck.  the truck drags his body quiet a ways as it skids to a halt and his friends are horrified by what they’ve witnessed, the driver is shaken and climbs out desperate to say that it was Keis fault when to their shock Kei crawls out from under the truck dazed t first he is confused about what happened before quickly realizing and becoming upset he insists he’s human and begs for his friends to believe him however he realizes they only see him as a way to make money by turning him in.  in terror Kei screams unintentinally releasing his voice, another unique trait of Ajin that causes a temporary paralasis in those who hear it, before fleeing the scene.

a little later Yu Tosaki and his body guard and assistant Izumi Shimomura of the Ajin control branch of the government arrive to question Keis friends and his mother. As this is going on it is revealed that Kei has fled to a local Shrine and then into the woods beyond, desperatly thinking who might help him he remebers Kaito who had been a childhood friend but whome he’d been told not to be around anymore by his mother.  Desperate and worried Kai Might also want to turn him in but feeling alone Kei calls Kaito and the other boy is ready to help his friend filling a duffle bag with supplies and heading out, knocking out a poliece officer who had found Kei Kaito offers his old friend a hand up and they flee the area on a motorcycle.

The Bad

Despite how much I’ve written that happened in the first episode.  it not actually a lot.  theres a lot of nothing in this show and thats a major problem.  I a not against quiet moments, for example Hiyao Miyazaki is very well know for his long silent scenes, but even these scenes serve to tell story in one way or another, I get the feeling either the writer or director of this show wants to emulate that but the quiet scene in the show just don’t accomplish anything.  theres also a sense of ‘artistic padding’  where things are added for the art of it,  I don’t know if someone in the production team had higher aspirations or if they where just desperate to cover the ugly modles but it doesn’t work.

The episodes feel long but almost nothing happens. or a lot happens but none of it matters or is memorable.  The motivations of the antagonist make no sense,  and while I have a theory of who he truely is I won’t say untill I do my reviw on season 2 (Which won’t be for a while because this was so hard to sit through)

Kei himself is a terrible protagonist, there are moment whre you think he’ll get better, but he really doesn’t in fact I thought the show was going to pull some kind of switch and make the story focus on the friend Kaito who seems to really genuinely still care about Kei even though they hadn’t been friends for years and who insists even if Kei is an Ajin, he’s still Kaitos friend so that’s all that matters.  But Kei leavs Kaito after only a couple episodes

It’s clear that there is something not right with kei from the get go, the first time we see his phone all his friend are listed not by name but number literally ‘friend 1′  ‘friend 2′  and so on, and as the show goes on theres an impression that the creators where trying to make Kei a Psychopath.  I’m not talking Ax wielding movie psycho but a clinical psychopath, no empathy no connection to the people around him, a general callous nature and his willingness to use then abandon anyone who might have value.  I’m not a fan of using mental illness as a way of making people ‘other’  mental illness is demonized enough, and frankly it’s hard to empathize with a protagonist who openly admits they don’t care about anyone.

There aren’t any real stand out characters either,  they all feel like cut outs,  you have you deceptively friendly antagonist, you have your to serious government agent, and his body guard who obviously has a crush on him, you have the best friend, you have the friendly granny.

It’s just all been done before and better.

Now about episode 8 a character name Ko Nakano is introduced and for a moment I thought Oh the shows just going to give us a new protagonist... NOPE!  he get capture by Kei who keeps him locked in an old shipping truck for the rest of the season,  Fuck that noise.  honestly Kei gets less and less likeable as the show goes on.  He abjectly refuses to get involved with trying to stop the antagonist, Sato’s, terrorist plot even saying openly he doesn’t care what happens to other because he’s found a nice place where he can live a quiet normal life.  Kei had in fact been taken in by a kindly older woman who convinced the villagers kei was her grandson from tokyo who had gotten into trouble and was staying with her.

That being said.... There’s a couple good things

The elderly woman is quiet charming, she doesn’t care about the Ajin or what ever other trouble Kei seems to be in she just sees a young man who helped her after she fell and lets him stay.  If not for another villager recognizing his picture on the news and reporting him to claim the rumoured reward Kei clearly would have been happy to stay in that little village forever and just live a quiet life.

The opening theme song is pretty good.  the CG is frustrating in that in the opening they show shots of characters as they looked in the manga and those drawings are amazing, This would have looked so much better 2d Animated.

The black ghosts are kind of neat.

theres a couple interesting fights with the Ajin, since they recover almost instantly from death they’ll actually kill themselves in combat to resurrect with out their injuries or to even escape grapple or escape the effects of tranquillizers, so that’s neat

I haven’t got much here guys I’m sorry I’m trying but this just, I feel like there might have been something good under all the thick thick thick padding.

Final Thoughts?

I don’t recommend it, even for one watch it’s just a slog, it’s not enjoyable it’s not even a good time killer because it feels like it drags.

Everything from plot point to characters to scene have been done before in better shows, and the aesthetic is just Ugly, terrible CG modles with awkward round movements to avoid collision issues clearly, and the backgrounds look like someone took photos and then put them through the photoshop watercolor filter.

There’s nothing worth reccomending about it, I know Netflix has stuff way better then this so go watch that because this so Not worth your time.

[rotten-dan]

I know about beastars! If you've ever seen zootopia its that but much more realistic with a lot more animal rep and a little more violent

ugh reviwers...HMM, it does look a lot like zootopias settingbut more raw. I really like the art of the manga... now that i think about it, i dont remember really seeing animal (or f/urry whatever) art from japan, at least not like this

i like it °v°)

[recentanimenews]

Japan Box Office: Lupin The Third 3DCG Film Debut at #2 with 245 Million Yen

       The 48-year-old Lupin The Third anime franchise's first full 3DCG feature film Lupin The Third: The First was released in 348 theaters across Japan on December 6, 2019, then earned 245 million yen on 77,000 admissions on its first Saturday and Sunday, ranking second in the weekend's box office. The result was 37.7% of the first two-day gross of the 2013 film Lupin the Third vs. Detective Conan: The Movie.

  The Takashi Yamazaki (Space Battleship Yamato, Stand By Me Doraemon)-directed film has received positive reviwes and ranked No.1 in Pia's first-day satisfaction ranking with a 91.5 approval rating. It earned over 300 million yen in its first three-day and is expected to end its domestic run with around 1.5 billion yen.

  Meanwhile, the live-action film adaptation of Rin Mikimoto's romance shojo manga Gozen 0-ji, Kisushi ni Kiteyo starring Kanna Hashimoto and Ryota Katayose (GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE) ranked third with a modest 125 million yen in its opening weekend. The result was 46% of Hashimoto's previous live-action adaptation of Japanese popular manga, Aka Akasaka's Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, released in September 2019.

  Thanks to the seven-part bonus sequel novel written by the original novel author Fumiaki Maruto, Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Fine has stayed in the box office top 10 for seven consecutive weeks. In its seventh weekend, the 115-minute film to conclude the series still ranked the same ninth position with last week, and its total box office gross has reached 660 million yen to become the 17th top-grossing Japanese anime film of 2019.

     Weekend box office in Japan (December 7-8, 2019)

 (ticket sales basis)

    1 (1). "Frozen II" - 6.01 billion yen

 2 (new). "Lupin The Third: The First" - 300 million yen 3 (new).

 3 (new). "Gozen 0-ji, Kisushi ni Kiteyo" - 190 million yen

 4 (2). "Sumikko Gurashi: Tobidasu Ehon to Himitsu no Ko" - 980 million yen

 5 (3). "Kessan! Chusingura" - 820 million yen

 6 (4). "Terminator: Dark Fate" - 2.21 billion yen

 7 (5). "Doctor Sleep" - 250 million yen

 8 (6). "IT Chapter Two" - 1.75 billion yen

 9 (7). "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Fine" - 660 million yen

 10. (8). "City Hunter THE MOVIE: Shijyou Saikou no Mission" - 100 million yen

    "Lupin The Third: The First" trailer:

    "Gozen 0-ji, Kisushi ni Kiteyo" trailer:

    Source: Eiga.com, Pixiin

   ©Monkey Punch/2019 Movie "Lupin The Third" Production Committee

©2019 "Gozen 0-ji, Kisushi ni Kiteyo" Production Committee

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[darkeraven22]

VIZ Komi Can't Communicate Volume 5 Review Chapter Sixty-Two (Digital)

In The Cultural Festival, Democracy Is Run Like You’re In A Bad Remake Of Lord Of The Flies! Oh boy. ANOTHER Cultural Festival! The staple of any manga set in a school setting. At some point in your school setting manga, somebody has to throw a cultural festival! Because… why not. Today’s Cultural Festival cannot be decided on in terms of what the room wants to do for the Cultural Festival,…

[animecite-blog]

Legal Drug: A Review On CLAMP's Supernatural Series

Legal Drug is your next #manga reads from CLAMP's long list of supernatural series. Get your #SundayReads started by reading our reviw on #animecite 😄😘😍

Any fan of manga or anime is sure to know everything about CLAMP by now. If not, then you’ve been living under a rock all this time. CLAMP is the creative force behind titles like xxxHolic, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and the list just goes on. One of their titles, Legal Drug, may be something that most of you aren’t even familiar with. This is mostly due to Legal Drug’s strange publication…

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (76 & 77)

So, I decided to read the manga mainly in search for a more natural balanced female presentation than the idealistic, shallower, savior depiction of tohru in the anime.

I’m intentionally skipping all the chapters of her as a (mother figure) in yuki’s life & won’t read them or even visit them for comparison with the anime. I love yuki’s growth story & the unique depiction of his platonic relationship with tohru, but if his mother-tohru phase was a drink, then the anime has force fed it to me till it came from my nose! So, for yuki, I’ll be reading his growth past-his mother confession.

I’ve consulted my lovely manga readers friends & thy recommended starting from ch 90 since the content in that chapter was completely cut! but some recommended checking kyoto chapters first since they contain a nice glimpse of the author’s style & artistic vision. Kyoto ep in the anime isn’t focused on “mom-tohru” so, i like the idea! I’ll jump to ch 90 right after ch 77.

- Subtle growth of a woman ( Clash of visions & presentation between the manga’s “ Loosing the wallet with mom’s photo vs the anime’s fractured photo frame):

I really love the underlined connotation of tohru loosing her “mom” unknowingly! In the anime, this scene played without any reference to kyoko & tohru’s attachment to her. We saw tohru the teenage girl confused as she experience romantic love for the first time. Nothing more than that. But the manga says “ Main female MC is way deeper than a (mom-figure) or a (girl in love), In this panel, tohru chases after kyo & unknowingly looses her famous wallet containing her mom’s picture. Here’s what this subtly indicates:

 Normally, tohru would notice right away that her wallet is missing, here she never even notice until kyo suggest they hang out together. Subtly indicating that tohru is moving further & further from her phase of “ an afraid, grieving, abandoned child clinging to her mom”.

Normally, tohru would panic, say “ mom is missing” & everyone around her goes into search mode to make tohru at ease (hiro’s ep). Here once she notices, she says “ my wallet is missing” & kyo relaxed & laughingly gives her her wallet back. While he goes to bring the wallet, tohru instead of thinking “ oh nearly lost mom!” is musing over the fact that “it’s strange that kyo can make me happy or sad with one word only”. Subtly indicating that tohru is replacing her mom with kyo as part of growing up from the child she was to the woman she will be.

Tohru calling kyo “mysterious”, subtly explains that tohru is in the uncertain phase of understanding her feelings as a woman & hence, pave the path for upcoming trauma exploration & psychological depth.

The entire scene in the manga is depicted to convey different layers: romance, upcoming growth, & unexplored traumatic issues of abandonment, grief, & human weakness. “ Accepting human Weakness & change” IS the manga’s vision.

In the anime, the fractured picture worked simply becuz no issues of any traumatic experiences with tohru were ever hinted. Nothing abt tohru being a young woman moving away from a traumatic childhood was ever implied beside the weakly sharply cut & forgotten few scenes of her mysteriously going “ im okay” while remembering her dad’s shrine. Was there ever anything abt replacing her mom with kyo? Nope!. Was there anything abt tohru reluctance of loving kyo? Nope! to fix that, let’s shock the audience with empty photo frame! It’ll make the viewers confused & if we play the climax right & give tohru a tearjerker speech confronting akito, all is good. It worked in the anime as it served the purpose it was created for: shock value & drama. ppl bought it. But in the long run, it cemented tohru as the “savior angel” never the “ weak human”. But not many will have issues with that. Having yuki with his impressive story of growth & kyo with his shocking story of pain is enough to distract from the rest. The director must think: What does the audience want?

a woman who’d save the prince with her motherly care?“ Done!”.

a woman who’d love the monster? “ Done !”. 

a woman who has her own deep story? no one will miss that~ skip!

-Yuki’s next stage of growth: Friends:

I like how smoother the scene played here. Yes, yuki thinks back to his gratitude to tohru, but it plays subtly & more emphasis is on his friendship with kakeru. No added scene of him waving back to tohru after kakeru which brought the focus back to mom-tohru again. No. Here is way less shoved in your throat. Yuki says how he felt in the moment, moved on to the next stage, thought abt his life & choives, moved on to school. Clear lines that makes yuki more dynamic & way less “ living in his head” character.

Side Notes:

The manga’s art is pretty but expressive! I was afraid it’ll have that weird eyes bigger than the moon & too much sparkles & bubbles like the usual old shojo manga art!

Yuki is way more expressive than the anime & less pretty & sparkly! I welcome this with flowers & songs! lol.

Tohru has “low” pigtails instead of the child-like high pigtails! YES! it is crazy that this trivial change adds so much to tohru’s presentation to the viewers’ eyes. In real life no big deal but in an artistic medium such choices send subliminal messages to viewers minds, that’s why artists spend a lot of time choosing their characters default appearance. It means a lot for the character’s overall path & sends messages. High child-like pigtails: make her look like innocent & naive child since viewers usually associate such hair do with children & toddlers. Low pigtails: are cute girly style that we associate with teenagers & young adult women, it’s practical & cute.

Kyo’s looks as youthful & handsome as the anime but less angry, annoyed & more versatile in his expression! It always bothered me that the anime just go with kyo’s default frowned face, hands in pocket looks unless he should express a key emotion. Also, kyo without an undershirt in his uniform! interesting change from the anime.

I missed kyo’s two buddies! T_T. Why they weren’t in the anime’s finale.. could’ve at least put them in the underwhelming graduation ceremony ~

I really appreciate that yuki’s fanclub are one page, less annoying.

That awkward moment when a manga panel drawn by one person can depict a crowded city more than an anime with a huge team. Like the anime didn’t even need to zoom out for a huge wide shot that showcase its weakness in depicting a crowded city. If you can’t draw that, just zoom in to lessen the effect of emptiness. kyoto isn't a deserted area especially not during a school trip!

The teachers checking on the sneaking vs sleeping students scene is a welcoming sight! XDDD

Hana met kakeru before? saw him & tohru together? weird!!

Kakeru is more focused on tohru here.

I really love the photos taken for everybody. It indicates real good time! Hana eating, yuki around girls, arisa annoyed, kyo teased with playing card: did the play “rich man poor man” again? XD

I’m starting to love yuki more in the manga than the anime!

Kyo having short inner thought abt not being able to tell tohru a girl confessed to him & deciding to say “ none of ur business” is doing wonders to the scene!!! it makes him less mean to tohru & more balanced character. I mean I guessed so in the anime, but what could've prevented making the VA say this short line of inner thought?! Yuki’s VA says essays & essays in nearly every ep abt nearly every character?!.

I liked the way kyo held tohru’s hands when he turned to her, the way he held her hand in the anime is a bit weird. lol. Also, in this scene, tender gentle kyo is so well-done both in the anime & manga. The manga wins for the zoom in & focus on emotions, tho.

Next is chapter 90!

[darkeraven22]

Seven Seas Hitomi-chan Is Shy With Strangers Volume 5 Review Chapter Fifty-Nine

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This Review Is Tired Of Being Told The Title Is Tired Of Flirtin! So remember some volumes ago? When Hitomi’s brother got her and Yuu to go on a movie date to see a rather obscure art house love story movie with action elements? Well… that movie is now out on BluRay and Yuu’s buying it! So yeah. Apparently the creator of this manga is in love with the Bo-Ray format! I personally approve of DVD…

[darkeraven22]

Seven Seas Tamamo-chan's A Fox Volume 6 Review Chapter Ninety

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We end the trip to Kyoto with a good old fashioned revealing showdown! So, briefly, I am going to end the review for this week today. We will subsequently review the last six Chapters next week. From Monday all the way to the end of the year, New Year’s Eve 2022. That will finish up the year for us. I’ll have things to cover from Thursday to Sunday so I’m good I think. So it’s at last time for…

[darkeraven22]

Seven Seas Tamamo-chan's A Fox Volume 6 Review Chapter Eight-Seven

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This Review Is Chock Full Of Kyoto Shrine Factoids! Yay! So its nice when, well, we have a manga that teaches you stuff as you are entertained. Here? We have a manga that teaches you little factoids about Kyoto, and it’s shrines. Nice. Of course i’ll just leave it to you to buy this and read it all on your own. This is, after all, just a six volume series. I think it’s well worth owning but…