My Hero Academia Review

Posted on August 4, 2024 by dreager1

My Hero Academia just finished today and was one of the last of the big Shonen Jump titans. The only titles with over 400 chapters now are Black Clover and One Piece. It’s hard to even say if any others really have a chance but we’ll have to see. My Hero’s definitely a great title and does feel like a fun next generation of Naruto in some ways. The idea of a series about superheroes is always a good idea and you can bet there were a ton of big fight scenes all the way through. Hopefully we get a sequel series at some point.

The story introduces us to Deku who is one of the few humans who is born without any kind of super power. For the most part, everyone gets a special ability called a quirk and then a lot of people go on to become professional heroes to take down the legions of villains. The number 1 hero is a guy called All Might who is known as the Symbol of Peace. His abilities are so good that he almost single handily ended crime on his own. Unfortunately his powers are nearly at their limit and so he passes on his powers to Deku. This is supposed to be impossible but his quirk is an exception. Now Deku can do his best to become a hero but will he really be able to pull this off?

Deku was always a bookworm and so he knew a lot about various abilities and fighters’ tendencies. This would translate pretty well when he got the abilities because now he could fight efficiently. In a way All Might’s power is too good for a while there as Deku’s body isn’t really able to contain that level of power. He has to hold back a lot even during the big fights because otherwise his own body will be torn apart. So as you can see it is an ability that carried with it an incredible amount of risk and destruction. It is not to be used lightly in any situation. As Deku learns and get older he will be able to use 100% without any issue but that assumes that there is still a world to fight for. The League of Villains are doing their best to make sure that this is not the case.

We start off with a light pre arc but it’s interrupted rather quickly for the first invasion saga as Shigaraki and his friends make their big appearance. From the start Shigaraki is a tough fighter to go up against because with a single grab he can destroy you. Any kind of contact is absolutely fatal so you have to deal with him from afar. They also have a Nomu creature which was able to go toe to toe with All Might for a while. Considering that this is just the first attack from the villains, it is really impressive on all angles. This was a good way to setup the villains but also show what the students could do right from the start. Most of them aren’t really ready to fight but there were a few like Bakugo and Todoroki who were ready from the start.

Then you’ve got the Sports Festival with the big tournament among the heroes. It’s sort of like the Chunin Exams in a sense and a big part of this was about Todoroki finally facing his powers and learning to use them all even after his tragic past. He really went through a whole lot but at the end of the day he pulled it off. His fight with Deku was definitely a highlight and it was also nice see Bakugo take a massive W in his match. His ability is suited for combat really well after all so that’s not exactly a surprise. It goes by real quick for sure but definitely squeezed in a whole lot of content. Characters like Endeavor would continue to have a really big role up through to the end of the series.

It also led to the debut of Stain and his big fight with the heroes. It was a really good part in the series both with the stakes and also what happened. Stain goes around murdering heroes who don’t quite fit into his box of what a true hero is. His rationale doesn’t always make sense but he’s a villain so that’s to be expected. This was Ida’s best role in the series. Usually he’s just the mild mannered class president who follows the rules without any kind of complaint. He does what he needs to and that’s the end of that. In this arc, his brother was taken down by Stain so Ida wanted revenge. Unfortunately we never see that same level of vigor from him again but at least he was really fun to see in this arc. You were definitely rooting for him to do well and it made for a good team based fight to end the arc with.

After that we got more character development for the heroes when they had to team up against the professional heroes. Deku and Bakugo are naturally picked to be teammates since they are worst enemies and it goes about how you would expect it to. Bakugo keeps on causing problems and picking fights there. He goes as far as to say he would rather lose than work with Deku which is definitely a very drastic take. All Might definitely went rather hard on them here too so you really get to see him land some devastating blows. It was a pretty fun set of battles and it’s always nice to see these teamwork fights. You may have some doubts about if the students could actually take on some of these pros but remember that this is for practice. It’s not like the pros are going all out necessarily.

The first big high stakes are for a while is in the forest. The students had went over there to get some experience when they were attacked by the league of villains. This time we were talking full stakes with the villains here to murder all of the kids that they could. Dabi really got to show off more of his abilities this time around and the heroes were really on the back foot for a lot of this. Deku also had his own 1 on 1 fight with Muscular which was real intense. To date that is still one of my favorite fights in the series. I thought it was a perfect way to show off how much stronger Deku has gotten. Naturally he still has a ways to go in order to become the strongest in the verse but the fact that he was overpowering this guy who focuses on strength was super impressive. Already by this point in the series I would say that he could easily defeat any of his fellow students.

Things move pretty quickly from there as we immediately turn the corner to Bakugo getting captured so Deku goes on a rescue mission. This leads All For One to show up and we finally get his big rematch fight with All Might. This is definitely some real good stuff and it’s another top fight in the series. It’s the last time we would ever get to see All Might fight at full power after all so you definitely needed to really savor the experience. It’s easy to see why he was the #1 hero for so long. He was definitely not someone to underestimate. The battle was definitely a turning point since the heroes no longer had a reliable shield behind them. I continued to expect one more stand by Al Might later on since we know he can transform for an instant but I suppose the timing was just too tight. Still, imagine how cool it would be to see him throwing a punch as slim might and at the last second he turns buff to land the full weight of the blow. That’d be awesome.

After that it was finally time to get the hero licenses! I will say this is definitely one part where the humans were always extremely unreasonable. Yes, the licenses are important but at the end of the day these are kids who have been saving everyone time and time again. It was always so annoying when the humans would show up to badmouth them and talk about how they can’t be fighting. Like cmon now, I get this for standard humans but even for them when it’s an emergency and you just saved a bunch of people, I think it’s 100% justified to have used the powers. Just tell the kids they did good and call it a day there.

After that is one of the most pivotal arcs in the series. There is a big villain gang around and they are going to team up with the League of Villains. At the head of this group is Overhaul, a guy who can destroy things and put them back together. He’s one of the darkest villains are he continues to inflict terror upon a little girl named Eri. This was a rough moment for Deku though which I never let him live down. He had a chance to end the arc before it even began by saving Eri but ultimately chooses to step aside. Yes, he was encouraged to do so by Mirio but there are times when you just have to attack and this was one of them. There is no room to back down or anything like that. You have to fight and show why you are the top hero. I could really accept nothing less. Still, Deku does his best to make up for this and we get some real intense battles in the arc. Mirio also comes into his own with some really good showings here.

You’d expect we need some time to calm down after that arc so we get a much smaller one with the Gentle Criminal. This was a really solid mini saga, I had a blast with it. He’s surprisingly very powerful and one of those villains that you can’t really underestimate. He was able to hold his own against Deku and is also very agile. Fact of the matter is he could probably crush most of the pros at this point in time. He gets a good talking to and while he does have to go to jail, you figure he will rehabilitate pretty well. He’s more of a lost soul than a hardened criminal after all.

Following that up is really the last chance for the heroes to have some fun. We get the joint training competition with the other class. Each of the characters get to have their moment to shine and we even have Deku start to learn some new powers. They may have been rather controversial but at the end of the day they are pretty neat. Most of Deku’s powers aren’t ones that will be super useful compared to his main super strength/speed abilities but they certainly don’t hurt either. I’d say the rival school deserved to win more rounds though, they had some really good plans and abilities at the ready.

The villains can’t be left out of the fun for too long though and they actually get their own mini arc to deal with a different villain group. This was pretty fun and it’s something I’d like to see more of in different titles. This is one of the only times I can think of where the villains got a whole saga to themselves to fight it out without any hero interventions. It’s not the literal only time but it’s extremely well and it was definitely a really cool story. It helps that the other villains were all really talented as well. It was to the point where the main villains actually needed a power up of their own to try and launch a counter attack. They ended up stronger and more unified as a result so they would be more of a threat in the next arc.

This would of course be the first big war with Shigaraki and his troops. We have all of the heroes jump in to stop them and it’s a really nice united front. This is one of the massive advantages of being a long running series. You can’t really pull this off to the same effect in one of the short titles because we just wouldn’t really know the characters and it wouldn’t have the same impact. With these characters though, we know them and have been with them for a long while. So it definitely hits a lot harder. The fights are all pretty high tier by this point with all of the characters really knowing how to fight. Definitely a lot of fun all around.

After that was the big tipping point with Deku transforming into Dark Deku. He decides to go it alone and take care of the villains. To be honest that’s pretty much the right call though and while that’s not supposed to be the case, I would argue the series accidentally agrees with me here. Deku takes down several formidable opponents on his own and even wins a battle while he has to protect someone. He’s fully capable of doing this on his own and the rest of the students would just hold him back. Yeah it’s emotional to be seeing them show up with their speeches and all but they are too weak to help. They don’t want to admit to this and I get it but Deku was taking care of business without them. I dare say if they had stayed back then he would have continued doing great things on his own. That is his power, that is why he needs to take the lead. The teamwork approach doesn’t work when he is this much stronger than the others and he surpassed them a long time ago. So the ending of the arc is pretty cheesy but it was still a lot of fun overall.

Finally we have the last arc. The big war against the heroes once again with everyone being involved like last time. This time the heroes decide to really make sure that the villains are all split up so they cannot help each others. It’s a pretty good plan and most of the matchups aren’t that bad. Putting Toga with some of the weaker fighters may not have been a good idea though. I would see Deku and Endeavor winning their matchups but for example Dabi’s another one who would have the clear advantage in his fight. It’s hard to see him losing that round but the heroes were doing the best with what they got. At the end of the day it’s up to the heroes to go plus ultra from there and take everyone out.

It’s quite the ride and with the series being as long as it is, it makes sense that there would be so many sagas. All of the characters really got to change with the times and everything. In general I would say I didn’t really like the ending but big manga endings can be a bit hit or miss at times. This one felt a little too harsh even with the final moment at the end. Still, you should never let an ending get in the way of good content. This is still dozens and dozens of great volumes of material all the way through after all.

What the series always did extremely well was focusing on the fact that this is an optimistic story about heroism. It’s a title you could pick up at any time and have fun with. There are tons of big battles and then also lots of interactions between the cast at school. You really got to know most of the characters and what they were thinking really well.

Naturally it goes without saying that the artwork is really good here. The series always gets a lot of praise for this and it is absolutely deserved. The close ups look real intense to the point of being borderline horror at times. The series does well with each of the tones and always shows a good amount of variety throughout. The writing is on point as well and it’s a series with a very clear premise that is easy to jump into. I expect even 20 years from now people will still be talking about the series. It had a real strong hold on top of the charts after all and was mega popular. People will never really forget this one.

Okay time to really dive into the characters. Get ready because there are certainly a lot of them running around here. No, the Vigilante characters never get to show up and save the day so you do have to relegate those to the spinoff series. It is a shame since at least the main guy could have really helped out a ton considering just how powerful he got by the end. He should seriously be one of the strongest heroes on the planet at this point in time. Still we have lots of other big fighters.

First lets go over some of the staff. Nezu is the principal and while he’s not really a fighter, the guy does have a lot of good tech at his disposal. He comes up with some pretty good designs to slow the enemy down with which isn’t easy. Additionally, he does defend the students at times. I had him pegged as the traitor for a while since he always seemed a little suspect to me but in the end I suppose he was a decent guy. He’s not my favorite character or anything but he does his best.

Then you have whose role as a teacher is bigger than a hero for most of the series due to his powers going away. As a teacher he’s only okay though. It’s pretty clear that he’s a hero who could do almost anything back in his prime so it’s harder to teach the skills. He still serves as a good role model for Deku though. Towards the end of the series he seemed to be losing it a bit though and I was sort of expecting a villain type arc. Not that he would join the villains but he would start to get more and more extreme as he got close to the line. Ultimately that wasn’t really the direction they were going for here.

Eraser Head is a pivotal character in the series. The guy tends to be harsh towards Deku all the time to the point where he even takes a shot at him in the very final chapter but he will always defend his students either way. His ability to take away someone’s quirk is extremely helpful all the way through to the end of the series. After all, most fighters are basically helpless without their quirk. Naturally that isn’t the case for the final boss but that’s one exception out of a whole series of fighting. So it’s still a really good deal if you ask me. He’s a fun character to have around.

Present Mic is Eraser’s foil and you could say the dynamic is a bit like Might Guy and Kakashi. Present Mic has way more fun with everything. He doesn’t take things too seriously and he likes being very loud. We actually do deal with a tragic event that affected both of them in the past but surprisingly that is really only in the spinoff series. So you have to read Vigilante to see the whole story. You can pick up enough here to still understand the context though.

Midnight is definitely more of a sketchy character. Yeah her gimmick is for humor but she’s just not the best kind of role model. Her ability has her conveniently stripping to power up which isn’t great. Although the series itself is actually great about not having much fanservice at all. It’s extremely tame so the series gets huge props for that since a lot of titles just can’t resist. That being said, it doesn’t save Midnight so she still ends up being one of the weaker characters.

Then we have Gran Torino who is a solid mentor type figure. His quirk is actually really handy since it’s basically like a mini version of One For All. He gets your classic super strength and super speed which lets him do a good job of training Deku. It was definitely super useful to have the whole time. You just know he would have been a top tier fighter if he was just a bit younger. As it was he still did a really good job in the series. He was definitely real likable.

The author did a good job of giving just about everyone in Class 1A something to do but to be honest not everyone really turned things around. First up is Kota and I’ve got nothing against the guy but he just wasn’t ever very big. His power isn’t the most useful and so he never got a chance to shine. Sero has his tape which isn’t going to do much against most of the villains. He gets a moment or two but that’s about it for him as well.

Jiro has her sound abilities which are considerably more helpful than some of the others. I’ll give her that and she did good in the festival as well as some of the other events. Her personality is also a lot of fun, she’s not afraid to talk smack with the rest of the fighters. If any of the side characters was going to get a bigger role she would be my pick. Sato by contrast is a character who doesn’t get much to do and doesn’t have much potential. He has super strength but to a fairly low level. Not much is going to happen from that.

Shoji surprisingly gets a bigger role by the end of the series. He will try to help end the monster discrimination but until then there isn’t much for him to do. He doesn’t have any powers that would stop the stronger opponents and so he would be caught lacking in the end. Ojiro is in a similar spot where all he has is a tail. It’s a strong tail but…that’s just not going to be much of a game changer when you get down to it. He seems like a nice guy though.

Now we start getting to the bigger characters. First is Hagakure and in a lot of ways the reason she got big was because everyone thought she was the UA traitor. Her invisibility just made this a done deal. Of course when you look at actual screentime she is near the bottom. I enjoyed her character though even if a lot of that is for reasons outside of the series. I’ll never forget the fun debates about her criminal intent.

A character with actual criminal intent is Mineta though and he is a terrible character by every metric. It’s a shame he wasn’t expelled because the guy was crazy. Unfortunately a lot of series still have the obligatory perv character and that was Mineta’s role here. He would always be around to harass someone and his power’s also rather lame. You were definitely rooting against him in every match.

Then we have Tsuyu whose role isn’t huge either but she is consistent. Unfortunately she was consistent in a very bad way. She would usually have the worst takes on things like saying Deku shouldn’t go to save Bakugo and that it would make him a villain. I really needed her to brush up on what it means to be a hero. Ultimately she isn’t bad or anything like that but definitely not a top tier character by any means.

Aoyama is one of those characters you feel bad for because his own power gives him a bad stomach. That’s just such a cruel twist of fate. He can barely muster off one blast before falling to the ground. I would feel so massively scammed by that point. I’m not a big fan of his though, he likes to be flashy but there isn’t much to his character beyond that. He gets his share of development and big moments but they didn’t do much for his character for me.

Ida as I said earlier looked great during the Stain arc. He was ready to land some punishing blows and that was real impressive. Where he really ended up faltering was the fac that after that he learned the wrong message. Ida never wanted to break the rules again even if people were in danger and that was a shame. He really has a lot of potential too. The thing to always remember is that following the rules is the right thing to do but never check your common sense out by the door. You gotta keep it with you and continue to push forward.

Mina is a fun character and she’s always at a bit of a disadvantage because her acidic powers are super lethal. If someone gets hit with that then they’re probably dying and she has to live with that. So part of the dilemma here is that she has to hold back just enough which is difficult. Still, she always tries hard and gets her share of emotional moments. She steps up even when it’s hard and that’s why I have a lot of respect for her.

Next up on the list is Uravity. She is more of a supporting fighter no matter how many times they tell us about her gunhead martial arts. She should have lost most of her fights in the series. She was a reasonable character for the most part but starts to fall off a cliff as the series ends. She just gets way too emotional about taking down a mass murderer. She did everyone a favor but it’s breaking her down inside. I get being upset, but I jut thought this was a little too much. They should have held back somewhat at least. Her goals aren’t bad but it was annoying to see her fall for the propaganda a bit.

Kaminari strikes me more as the kind of guy who would keep things real. For sure he doesn’t want to murder anyone but if he does end up saving the world then he will take it in stride. It’s what he does and his thunder powers are fun. He has a huge drawback like Aoyama which is that he ends up frying his own brain but at least that’s something he can train at as he gets stronger. You definitely want to get to the point where you don’t have any drawbacks to your power.

Kirishima actually got through those issues on his own. He used to not be strong enough so he would chip and start to fall apart as he fought. Now he has made himself hard and strong enough to the point where that is not a problem. He just takes the whole thing in stride. I like his confidence as well and he ends up being one of the better students. He’s also one of the only ones where you could say he and Bakugo are genuinely friends. That’s a feat in itself.

Tokoyami is another really powerful student. His dark energy bird is definitely tough and the fact that he gets even stronger at night is great since you figure most crimes would take place in that period. It makes him extremely well suited to being a hero, even more than a lot of the other characters without a doubt. He is not the guy that you want to leave on the bench.

Momo has cool powers of her own like being able to make anything she understands the mechanics to. That’s definitely a great ability even if she doesn’t have the stamina to keep it up for too long. She also has good tactical skills which makes her very difficult to defeat and helps her be a good supporting fighter as well. Momo always means well and has a likable personality.

Then we get to Todoroki who is one of the biggest characters in the series. After all the Todoroki family in general has a lot to get through. He had a rough upbringing due to Endeavor breaking their family apart and Todoroki had a hard time using his powers because he didn’t want to glorify his father. Eventually Deku helps him out and from there Todoroki becomes a top tier hero. He’s definitely one of the best characters in the series. I thought he handled his subplot extremely well like a professional. He is always fair about everything and you can count on him to have your back.

Bakugo is the big rival in the series and he always keeps Deku in top form. If Deku slips up even a little bit then Bakugo could end up surpassing him. Bakugo is always rather rude to everyone and that’s the way he aims to be a hero. Even through to the end he’s still yelling at everyone and hasn’t changed as much as you might expect. At least he does respect Deku now. He’s come a long way from being a petty bully and telling Deku to jump off a building. You can bet that those things don’t happen anymore. He may be rude but he’s certainly no bully. Bakugo is a real stand out character and the fact that he gets to be so strong with what I would call an average quirk is super impressive. Mini explosions usually don’t make you the equivalent of an S rank fighter.

Of course then we have Deku, the main character himself. He starts out a bit rough with being super timid the whole time. It takes him a little while but eventually he gets full confidence in himself and starts to take initiative. He has his flubs like the Eri moment but in general he is a good main character. The series is actually rather harsh to him I’d say when we go back to the ending but on the whole at least he got to accomplish a lot. Like with Uravity he does fall into a bit of a trap in terms of being a little too sad about how things turned out with the villains. At the end of the day they made their choice and Deku was forced to make his. Deku tried every possible alternative out first so he should have nothing to feel sad about. He gave it his all and I agreed with the call. Deku’s best mode was Dark Deku though, I’d love to see that return at some point.

Hawks is one of the pro heroes who shows up later on and he’s definitely fun enough. With his feathers he can fly at super speeds and he has a lot of power. He’s one of the most powerful all around heroes as a result. He has to put up with a lot by being an agent for both sides. The amount of intel he gets is really good and he had to put himself in a ton of really dangerous situations to get it. So nothing but respect to the guy, he did good.

Monoma is a really fun character. His copy ability really makes him a threat to any opponent and he also has a ton of confidence. The confidence is really what makes him the great character here because that’s what you love to see in a character. He was always ready to stand up for his class and prove that they were just as good as 1-A. Nobody else really had the gusto to pull that off so I’d say it was a rather big deal. It shows that he had a lot of guts at all times and so he was easy to root for.

Hatsume is a mild character from the support agency but she gets props for being super good at what she does. When the heroes need some kind of gear or equipment she is able to whip it out in no time flat. Nobody else could pull that off and that’s why she is the boss. There is nobody even close to her in terms of technical know-how.

Now lets go into more of the heroes. We’ve got Edgeshot who doesn’t have a huge role for most of the series but becomes absolutely pivotal by the end. He can get into any crack and exploit it. The guy is fast and hard to detect. Considering that he’s one of the top 10 heroes you know he is strong but I really do wish we could have gotten him to fight more. You never really get to see exactly what he can do in a true combat scenario for very long.

Then you have the Suneater who mostly gets overshadowed by his two teammates in the series. He can eat food in order to metamorphize his body which seems like an extremely useful technique to have. He has his share of contributions at the very end of the series but doesn’t do a ton of things on his own so that’s what keeps him from keeping up with some of the others. Also, he’s a bit too nervous and you know how I tend to take points off for that. I need him to show some more absolute confidence!

Nejire is a fun character. I like her lasers and she tends to stand out a lot. She’s another character where I would have liked to have gotten to see her do more. Her fights tend to mainly stay off screen but on camera she would absolutely dominate. You feel like most villains without regeneration wouldn’t be able to do much against her lasers but maybe it is difficult to limit them enough to not absolutely destroy the humans.

Mirio is a character who had a rough start with not saving Eri but at least after that he made this his primary mission. He would save her no matter what and he did a good job of that. Even at the cost of his powers, he really went all in. Surprisingly in the final war he doesn’t do as much as you would expect. I feel like with his abilities he should be a top tier fighter from start to finish. Maybe it just wasn’t a great matchup for him. Either way he does end up being a real fun hero all the way through and does more than a lot of the pros.

Take Wash for instance, what does he even do here? He makes the washing machine sounds but that’s about it. You forget that he’s around half the time which is too bad. Woods is another high tier hero but he really can’t keep up with anyone and is written out real quick. At least he seems like a good hero though so power isn’t everything. Mr. Lady may not be the most powerful hero on the list but she always rises up when necessary. She gets some pretty solid moments near the end where we see her determination. She gets some good props there.

Jeanist is one of those guys who actually gets a good amount of screentime and is strong. What really holds him back though is the fact that it’s hard to take his powers seriously. He can control denim to make something super tight or loose. It’s a good way to trap people but the strongest villains just aren’t going to be tied up for very long. He has a good amount of confidence though so he’s okay. Ryuku is a hero I expected more from though. She’s one of the top 10 and has absolute killer power. That should be enough to easily crush most fighters but she only gets maybe 2-3 battles and we don’t see her much. Felt like the series left a lot of meat on the bone with her.

Gang Orca has a cool design but doesn’t seem like the strongest hero. He didn’t do much at all when Toga was around after all so he lost points there. I know he was helping against the nameless minions but you have to do more than that. Mirko is the perfect example of a pro hero who came in and really took names. She did have the unfortunate habit of losing limbs in most of her fights but this never discouraged her. She would just come right back into the mix and land more blows. She felt like a grownup version of Bakugo. Definitely a great addition to the series and she was an instant scene stealer.

Fatgum had some moments as well. He’s not my favorite character bus his super durability while in fat mode is definitely real handy. You do not want to mess with Fatgum, that’s for sure. Then back to some of the students, we have Shindo who was really cool. He’s a character that I initially did not notice much in the series but then the anime helped bring him to the forefront. He does his best to stop the villains and nearly had Muscular on the ropes so I have to give him that.

Yoarashi is one of those real petty characters. He apologizes after creating a mess of things but the character motivation was rather weak. I almost would have preferred he just stay antagonistic the whole time but I suppose now he can always be used more freely in the future. Then we have Shinso who has been moving around quite a bit. Currently though he will be back with the main class which is handy. The ability to immediately brainwash/control someone is super useful and with how everyone loves talking, you can bet he will be useful for a very long amount of time. He needs someone to respond to him for the ability to activate but with how villains like monologuing that won’t be a problem.

Nighteye is an assistant but one who can move fast and read the future. This actually allowed him to dodge Deku’s strikes which might be a little bit of a stretch. My think with this is even if Nighteye knows where the hits will be, I don’t see him physically being fast enough to do anything about it. He should still be getting absolutely washed in a fight if you ask me. Either way he was a fun character to have around though.

Then we have Endeavor as one of the top tier fighters. He is a super combatant so I want to say that strength is not something that he is lacking. The guy definitely has true skills but the reason I didn’t like him is because of his backstory. Basically he was abusive to his wife and kids. The series goes to great pains to work on the character redemption saga but ultimately it wasn’t enough for him. He just went way too far by that point so there’s no turning back. I’m glad that he’s on the right side now but yeah I had 0 real sympathy for the guy. He created all of the big problems and now has to live with them for however long he lasts.

Star and Stripes is the final big hero here and she ran into the issue of being too powerful. Her ability basically let her alter reality by making anything she says come true. It’s extremely difficult to stop that, in fact you could say it’s borderline impossible. The best way would be to speedblitz her before she could get any orders out but the problem is that she built her body to be All Might level in terms of speed. She always has one rule up to keep herself that way so that plan won’t work. You’ll be shaking your head at how she goes down but either way she is a great character.

Now onto the villains! I want to give a quick shoutout to the villain from chapter 1. He never gets to do much of anything but was pivotal to the series. Without him making a move in the first episode, everything would have turned out super differently. Low key it also seems like a pretty good power and even All Might had a hard time catching up to him.

Lady Nagant is more of a serious villain though. She is dispatched to take out Deku and the fact that her gun strikes can even come close to the guy is super impressive. By this point in the series Deku’s speed is absolutely insane so keeping up with him in any kind of capacity is certainly a trick. She gets a whole backstory which was handled well and I like how her character ended. she was a good character through and through.

Then we have Stain who is always fun. Again, his idea of who is worthy to be a hero can be a bit vague. You’d figure Ida’s brother would have met the criteria but at his core you have to remember that he is still evil. He gets a good moment near the end and in general his abilities are super useful in a fight. If you get paralyzed even just once then it could be all over. He uses blades after all so unless you are wearing some armor then that’s it.

Next we have Mustard who is a fairly minor villain but the guy has a gun which is absolutely crazy here. Most pro heroes aren’t bullet proof so if you get the attack in then it could be super dangerous. The heroes have to take him out real quick each time since he shouldn’t be underestimated. At the end of the day he is just a normal guy with a gun but that’s why he’s so scary. Because you know that someone else could copy him in the future. Then there’s the Nomu. By the end of the series there are a lot of them. I would say that none of them ever manage to surpass the original one from season 1 but a few of them certainly come close. The high end who fought Endeavor comes to mind. Especially since that one could talk, that was a lot of fun.

Another strong fighter is Gigantomachia even if he can be a little too big at times. If he could scale down somewhat then I dare say he would be the bigger threat. It would be harder to lock onto him and everything. He could then appear out of nowhere and deal devastating damage. Yeah that would have been rough. As for the Doctor, not much to say about him. He’s basically your average scientist villain concocting plans and getting in everyone’s way. He’s not what I would call a massive threat or anything like that.

Then you have the Gentle Criminal and like I said before the guy is a lot of fun. I like his fighting style and his gimmick is also pretty neat. It’s not like he is going around murdering anyone either. He knocks out anyone sent to stop him but that’s about it. Meanwhile he has his partner La Brava who handles the tech and his social media. They really make for a good team all the way through.

There aren’t really any other teams though. After that we have Muscular who has a big grudge against Deku after the first fight. Don’t expect him to be just following orders all the time. I like that kind of rebel character so it’s no surprise that I enjoyed his character quite a bit. He ended up beating Spinner for me as an example. Spinner had his whole subplot with the creatures but I felt like it didn’t go anywhere quick enough. Additionally Spinner just wasn’t the smartest character a he let himself be manipulated so easily. Definitely not a good look there at all. He basically became a mindless monster.

Twice was a nice guy. Also a bit gullible but he would always do his best. Now during this writeup I do want to underscore that he is still a villain. He fell in with the wrong crowd and led a life of crime but at the end of the day he still has to take accountability for that. You don’t get a pass just because you were tricked. After all he still knew exactly what he was doing.

Mr. Compress doesn’t get a ton to do but he was a loyal fighter and a pretty good character all around. His abilities were super handy and we even get a brief backstory which wasn’t half bad. I would have liked seeing more of him. Kurogiri is another character who could have used some more screentime. We know about his backstory but like I said before most of it is in the spinoff anyway and not here. Most of this guy’s scenes are all from the very beginning of the series and then he’s gone for a very long time. Teleporting is always super handy though so I liked him but I wish he wasn’t held captive for so long.

Then you have Toga and you have to remember that she is super sadistic and evil. I feel like the manga tries gaslighting you a bit on this with Toga and the others but this isn’t some random victim. Toga was causing a whole lot of destruction throughout the series and had to be stopped. There’s no real way around it, if you don’t stop Toga then it’s all over. She was going to tip the scales before she was defeated. I think she makes for a decent villain when that is how she’s being presented at least. Her blood copying abilities are definitely hard to stop.

Dabi is the standout villain and the best in the series. He was ditched by Endeavor early on and just kept on training. He’s the only character that All for One could not manipulate which already gives him a ton of hype. Factor in that he has the strongest flames and it’s a wrap. He had a rough backstory so I’d say I sympathize with him more than the other villains. In a way they made him too sympathetic at first so they added some stuff to make him go lower again. That’s fine, he’s not someone you are supposed to look up to anyway. He just so happens to have a really cool design and everything

Now we’re at the two big villains. First up is Shigaraki who gets a whole lot of screentime. I didn’t care for his origin story since it involves some animal violence. Miss me with that but it is easy to see how he turned evil. The environment didn’t do much to help him there but by no means is it the old lady’s fault. Later on we get a scene where some people think she should have acted but I reject the premise out of hand. By no means should she have been expected to go and do something about this. Shigaraki continues to get stronger and stronger throughout the series as his ambitions also grew greater. He is a very interesting and well layered villain. I dare say the series wrote themselves into a bit of a hole with how he can destroy anyone by touching them though. It means that none of the fights can have any contact for the most part so they have to work around that. Since he is as fast as All Might later on though, that starts to feel a bit impossible. There are definitely some power level issues there but all in all I liked Shigaraki. His group also know he has their back. They actually stick together and you love to see because I actually like loyalty among villains.

Finally you have All for One from the main villain group. The guy was always so mysterious and doing things from behind the scenes but man did he fall down hard near the end. He was panicking left and right as everyone barreled into him. There was a time near the end where he spends maybe 10-15 chapters getting crushed by everyone. He makes so many mistakes and looks so bad. I still like the villain of course and most crack by the end but this was definitely real drastic. You just couldn’t help but laugh at him a bit as well as he lost all of his charisma. He definitely needed to get out of his old body and that would have helped out a lot. Instead it was time for him to get humbled big time. So fun villain, but Shigaraki is definitely higher.

Then we have the alternate villain group led by Re-Destro. Re-Destro is one of those villains who was amazing at first and then from there he really ended up going down big time. He had a lot of aura and leadership potential but then he squandered it all and became more of a loyal lapdop. No, that was not my Re-Destro! It was a shame to see him lose everything that made him a cool villain. So by the end of the series I can’t say that I was much of a fan. He still had a really awesome intro though.

Curious was one of his big fighters and she was cool. Her fight with Toga was really solid and in a lot of ways you could say she should have won that battle. She played the matchup to near perfection and had counters ready for every tactic. That’s the kind of fighter you absolutely do not want to underestimate or it’s all over. She is one of those villain psychos who has a gimmick and stands by it which I appreciate. Of course the best member of the group is Geten. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of him. His ice is so powerful that he was able to hold his own against Dabi for a while which is absolute insanity. I would say that automatically puts Geten near the top of the verse and that’s probably why they couldn’t show him too much. He would be absolutely dominating everyone who made the mistake of getting in his way.

Rappa is a fairly minor villain in the grand scheme of things but I liked him. He always enjoys a good fight and didn’t want any cheap tricks to get in the way. He was extremely strong but also had an honor code. So you actually didn’t mind when he was winning. He’s still a villain without a doubt but at least he has a purpose/focus. I think it could have been pretty cool to see him go up against Deku at some point.

All of the One for All previous user get to show up in the vestige world and everything so that’s pretty neat. I wouldn’t say we get to know too much about them but we know what we need to. The theory about Backugo from the future may not have panned out but that was fun while it lasted. Imagine having 6 people living rent free in your head though. That could have been a little funny subplot to keep going in the background if the series had just wanted to keep that up.

Finally we have the last two characters who supported Deku a lot. His mom gets several appearances in the series. I wouldn’t say she ever gets to look good here but unfortunately her role didn’t permit much time for that. She’s mainly here to get emotional a whole lot of times. It would have been nice to ser her step into the action like she found a way to improve her quirk or something. Meanwhile Eri is also around as a wild card. I would say she is a true wild card because the whole time you’re waiting to see her use her youth powers again. The way they write around this can be a bit annoying but she still gets to help out as needed. She’s put up with a whole lot as a kid so you can bet that I’m not going to be all that harsh at all.

The series does have a lot of power level issues mainly due to Deku himself. He has the strongest quirk around and continues to grow during the series. He should be crushing most of his competition with ease like All Might used to. There are times like when Toga grabs him that you just have a hard time believing it. Likewise when Shigaraki is fighting and doesn’t manage to grab anyone even with his super speed. The issue is that Deku and Shigaraki are both just way too strong for anyone else and that leaves to some unbalanced environments. Every series has power scaling issues of course but this one tended to appear more drastic because of skilled these two were.

Overall, My Hero Academia is definitely a great series and what Shonen Jump is all about. You’ve got a large cast of fun fighters and a whole lot of battle scenes within it. You’ll be blasting through the series real quickly as you eagerly await what happens next. The pro heroes could never keep up for the most part but at least this paves the way for the kids to become the next wave of heroes. They will do what the grownups could not and really make the world a utopia. It’s a bold goal but they are ready for it. This was definitely quite the writeup and I can assure you that I still left out a bunch of characters and events. If you want the full experience then it’s time to binge the series. Get ready for a real good time!

Overall 8/10

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Review

Posted on July 27, 2024 by dreager1

This is a manga that I felt like I was reading for years and years. It just took forever to scan but the series is long with almost 100 chapters so it was a really big project. It certainly had its moments here and there but ultimately the problems were just too massive for the series to ever get past. Put it this way, the series takes place in the olden times of kingdoms and tradition. So unfortunately a lot of characters don’t make the right moves because of a sense of honor. So by the end most of the characters are just real awful and it’s hard to really try and redeem any of them. It’s actually a real shame when you look at it that way.

The story is really split into two main sagas. The first half is about Prince Sigurd as he does his best to unite the kingdom. There are tons of evil countries out there and even his own has a lot of problems. So Sigurd has to really start from the top but since he’s Prince he should be able to do a lot right? Along the way he falls in love and has to work to balance the weight of the crown with the weight of being a husband. Will he be able to unite the kingdom?

Well the second saga is about his son Seliph who has to stop the evil kingdoms so you can probably guess how that went. Seliph is a little more extreme than his father was. He is an ultra pacifist who doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Yeah Sigurd was also keen to avoid fighting but the big difference was that he would ultimately draw his sword when needed. He understood that sometimes you had to fight in order to protect what you love. Seliph takes forever and a day to learn this which is annoying.

Now the idea of two sagas is very interesting. Outside of people who played the game and knew this was coming it really comes as a shock. I was definitely not expecting a whole new 2nd act that would have brand new characters and everything. It’s really like a whole new adventure from end to end. So the idea is cool at least even if it didn’t really do much to save the series. You may be wondering, just how bad can this series get? It’s still Nintendo so what’s with the super low score? Well I hate to say it but this series broke all of the biggest cardinal rules.

First off, it pulls a Sword Art Online. The series so infamous that just using the term lets you know what’s going on. Well maybe not for everyone so basically the series decides to go grim dark by having one of the villains attack Sigurd’s wife and things get really dicey from there. The series really fell into the gutter from that point and never recovered. Unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. The series also decides to pull another Sword Art Online with a plot twist about Seliph’s wife and that reallllly gets dicey. The series really didn’t need to pull that. There are no point to the twist beyond the standard shock value that comes with it. Yeah that may have been something that happened more in the super old time this takes place in but that doesn’t mean it has to be included.

That’s my thing with a lot of these series. Just because something might be historically accurate or improves the realism, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to include it. In fact, I would say the opposite is usually true where adding these things just weakens the story by a massive degree. The series could have done without all of this stuff. These were the two most notable moments but trust me when I say there were a whole lot of others as well. The series generally didn’t have a ton of fanservice either. Some here and there but for the most part it was avoided so I appreciated that at least.

Too bad the villains had quite a few pervs in their ranks. Unfortunately this is where the annoying honor stuff comes in again. One guy harasses one of the girls a lot but he’s a high ranking noblemen so the heroes are told to stand down. The girl even says she can take it but really? The heroes aren’t gonna do anything? Oooh yeah I’d have some problems with that. One of the quickest ways for me to lose respect for a character is when they sit back and allow villains to get away with whatever they want. That’s absolutely not something you can allow in any timeline.

The series is long and yet the ending also manages to be rushed. That’s always an impressive combination in a rather grim way. Like how do you even let that happen, it doesn’t make any sense. The main villain suddenly decides not to be super evil and basically gives up, then Seliph decides it’s time to finally have some rage and goes for the final blow. It’s really not a satisfying ending in any way and so the series couldn’t even end on a positive note.

As far as the art goes, I can’t say that it was very good. It’s extremely old and has one of those art styles that just feels really dated right now. Not like that’s a super bad thing in itself but at the same time I wouldn’t say that it goes very well. It’s not the worst art that I’ve seen but I would say that it is considerably below average. It really feels like the whole deck was stacked against this series right? Well one more main negative and then lets go onto some positives.

The power levels make no sense here. I don’t usually go into this much because most series will have some power issues as they go on. It’s pretty much impossible not to right? Well what makes this one particularly egregious is the fact that it’s so drastic. The series is mainly down to Earth. A few fighters have burning blades that increase their attack power but that’s it. That is…until some mages show up. One of the villains is a girl who can shoot meteors that can literally destroy mountains. She is shown to burn a whole town in the blink of an eye. So how do the heroes actually manage to beat a villain like this? Well, she is either told to retreat by her inept commander or she just doesn’t use her abilities until the heroes get in close to knock her out.

Eventually the heroes get mages of their own who have wind abilities and yet the heroes never really do much with him. What’s the point of having a super weapon if you’re not going to use him. I would say that the heroes absolutely did not have good tactics at the ready. There is no excuse for them to not be able to do much of anything here. They had the numbers and manpower to do better but otherwise the villains should stomp. The instant the girl with meteors was introduced, that should have been the end of the series without a doubt. You can’t really come back from that.

Okay now lets get into some positives right here. The first one is that the series does have good world building. While I may not enjoy a lot of the characters and settings, it is hard to deny that the series does a good job of going into everyone’s backstories and the various countries that are around. There are quite a few countries and they all get their big moments to shine. This is a very big world and the series makes sure to explore this as a theme. No country is left behind here, they all have a role to play.

It may be a bit convenient how they all attack one at a time in most cases but I can overlook that for now. The fight scenes are suitably dramatic when they happen and I do enjoy the climaxes for each arc. The series is at its best when it is focusing on these spectacles. There are also some characters that I actually do like quite a bit. In general the cast of part 1 is vastly superior to those in part 2. You have people who look forward to fighting and who can really hold their own.

It unfortunately goes without saying that I couldn’t get behind almost any of the romances in this series though. They tended to fall into the trap of being either risky, rushed, or just out of left field. The characters wouldn’t often have much of a reason to like each other or it felt like something out of desperation. The amount of characters who need validation from others here is rather large after all and unfortunately this always leads a villain to taking advantage of some of them from time to time.

The series’ length is something that works to its favor at least. While I didn’t care for the title in the end, there is a lot to read through if you do end up enjoying it. You can tell a lot of story in 99 chapters after all, particularly since each chapter is really long. The series definitely changes a whole lot when it ends compared to where it starts. It can be happy, sad, action based, romance focused, etc. There is a ton of variety to be found here and it feels less like a video game adaption and more like a full on epic. If it just could have avoided most of the problematic issues of the time then it would have been just fine.

Some titles can survive a few setbacks but the main problem was that these were just way too extensive. At that point the series couldn’t survive which is always a shame when you see the lost potential there. I’ve read lots of series that put in the work to be a super solid title and then they were ultimately not able to prevail. It’s just how it goes sometimes but at least there are so many other Fire Emblem titles out there that it’s not like I would ever need to even try re reading this one to get my Fire Emblem fix.

Pretty much all of the villains are just super evil to the point of it almost being comical without much other depth to them so I won’t talk about most of them here. A lot of them are your average dark mages with different spells and sorcery. Some of them do have some real ability but for the most part they tend to hide in the shadows. They have the fighters with actual skills rush into the fray and then go for the cheap shots. Usually the most notable fighters will turn good and get recruited into the army. Then rinse and repeat for the future arcs.

wo of the first fighters to show up are Lex and Azel. Azel is young but he has good magical abilities. He’s a decent fighter but gets flustered rather easily and does seem a little too young for these games of death. Granted, it’s a war so it’s not like the characters have much choice. Lex is a lot more experienced but doesn’t have the same level of ability so they have a fairly good dynamic there with a lot of contrast.

Then you have Diadora the main heroine. She has some pretty good healing spells and has a big role. Unfortunately things really don’t go very well for her at all and I wish that she would have had a better ending. She was a very nice character after all so the whole thing felt rather harsh. The cast in the series is really huge overall and there are a bunch of other heroines who seem rather similar and got to have better endings. I suppose they can’t all go out on a high note but it still felt like a bit much. I had to quickly take a look through the early chapters to remind myself on some of the different names.

One thing I will say is that the series does have that issue where a bunch of characters look really similar. For once you can say there is a bit of a lore reason for it as almost everyone is related in one way or the other but it still makes them hard to pick out in a crowd. It doesn’t help that most of the characters wear similar getups since they’re all in a war scenario.

Avra is a heroine who stood out as one of the dragon riders. I liked her combat gear and she was definitely more of a tsundere type fighter. She made sure nobody ever got the wrong idea when she would help them but of course this does lead into a romance plot. Fire Emblem is one of those series that has a ton of different romances running around but almost none of them work. It goes for more of a quantity over quality kind of thing.

Again I think part of the weakness here is in how old school everything is. All of the characters constantly talk about honor and what can or can’t be done. As a result they rarely end up seeming all that reliable to me. They will freeze up or hesitate if the big boss says anything and can also be a bit slow to help each of their heroines.

I already talked about the dancer Sylvia getting harassed and everyone was really slow to help her. Levin is a solid character as he is trying for peace and uses his wind abilities to mow down anyone in his way. It would be nice if he was more of an aggressive fighter though but there really aren’t any big characters like that. If we had more notable characters that were really bold and stood out, that would really change things. There are a bunch of other characters but again, they don’t really leap out of the page or anything like that.

Overall, Fire Emblem had a lot of potential but it didn’t live up to this. There is a ton of world building and the story goes really in depth on the kingdom setup so it probably is a must read for scholars of the franchise but I also wanted a top tier story along with that. I don’t think this would be too greedy of an ask right? In general I am still a really big fan of Fire Emblem and I look forward to seeing more stories about the franchise. I’ve generally enjoyed all of the other ones, this was really the only one that just couldn’t hold its own. I think any newer title would easily dominate this one and so I would say to definitely give this one a hard skip. Read Fire Emblem Engage instead if you want a really solid story with great art and characters.

Overall 2/10

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War Review

Posted on July 25, 2024 by dreager1

This series is one of those survival tournaments sort of like Fate/Zero. There are a lot of fighters gunning for the grand prize and everyone has their own reasons for winnings and strategies. We change perspectives a whole lot which is interesting. The series does a good job with all of the varied abilities as well. It can definitely get rather intense at times and for the most part you really can’t trust anyone as they will all do whatever they can in order to win. It definitely keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time.

The story starts by introducing us to the Zodiac War tournament which is a battle that is held every 12 years. One fighter is chosen for each of the 12 Zodiac symbols. This is typically someone who has really been training for this day because the prize is immense. You get whatever you wish for. The limits of your prize appear to be absolutely unlimited so who would not jump at such a chance right? Each player swallows a poison gem and the deadline for the tournament is midnight. If there is more than 1 competitor still alive at that point, the gem will unravel and everyone dies. So you better murder the 11 contestants quickly or you will find yourself in oblivion as well.

Part of the fun is of course seeing who gets bumped off and who wins so I won’t be talking about who wins or anything like that. Obviously you want to go in with as little information as possible. Most of the characters’ wishes are hidden as well until the end so I won’t really go into that. Instead, I’ll mainly spend the review talking about each character individually. At the end of the day this is really a true combat manga all the way so you can expect quite a lot of action all the way through. It definitely does not hold back on the action at all. The series can get rather violent with how everyone is getting murdered. Of course that will come as no surprise but the backstories tend to be dark as well. You’re shown just how hopeless things are for most of the characters and why it is so important that they win here.

I can understand why they take the risk considering the stakes. That said, I would say some characters are considerably more powerful than the others. Everyone has some kind of a special ability up their sleeve but it’s hard to compare reading vibrations to having unlimited bullets for example. For the most part the characters are rather down to Earth so having an infinite machine gun is actually super handy. The series does a good job of using the rock paper scissors type rules though where characters have good and bad matchups which ends up being just as important as the battles themselves. You might still find some fights a tad cheesy with who comes out on top but all in all I would say the series did a good job with this.

The art is definitely very high tier. The series has a ton of detail on each page, you can definitely feel the dread of the characters and understand how high the stakes are at all times. Each page makes you want to flip to the next. It’s very easy to read and the style is memorable. For example Rabbit in particular looks super deranged the whole time, definitely not someone you really want to mess with.

One thing that’s too bad is that we didn’t get a longer introduction. We only get to see all of the characters together in the same room interacting for a very brief time. The tournament starts almost immediately and from there we don’t have a lot of time for conversation. Sure we get the 1 on 1s, but after that it’s about action. Seeing a little more tough talk and flexing at the beginning is the kind of thing that I will never turn down. The tension is palpable and it’s the kind of thing I really enjoy about tournament series especially because until the rounds start, it really is anyone’s game.

Okay so first up lets talk about Rat. He is one of the more unremarkable characters at first glance. His ability is a mystery but all of his stats appear to be around average. The guy is quick but still wouldn’t be a favorite to win. He’s a fun character to have around though and when you think of Rats in any form of media you know that they’re really clever. So naturally you are expecting something smart out of this guy. I liked his plan and once we get the reveal about his ability, it’s one that I really like. It’s an incredibly useful ability and yet I would not say that it is downright broken. The author is careful to add some limits to it. Honestly it’s an ability that would still be super scary to have in real life.

Then we have Ox who is one of the big favorites to win the event. He’s known for being virtually invincible. His strength is completely off the charts and he wins every fight without getting a scratch. He is absolutely unstoppable and the guy is very emotionless. He just does whatever he wants and doesn’t generally doubt himself. I liked him quite a bit. We never get a whole lot of backstory into the guy but just enough where you can understand him. I like the mystery there and of course in general I tend to like the characters who are really good at fighting and come prepared.

After that is Tiger who tends to get drunk a lot. She’s a solid fighter as well and gets even better when she is drunk but at the same time she never feels like she is a match for the top tiers which is what holds her back. I like her can do attitude and how she never backs away from a fight but at the same time it would have been nice if she was a little stronger. Bravado is all well and good but when it’s not enough to lead you to victory then it can end up feeling rather hollow. I still liked her well enough and in general the series made almost every character likable. There are two main exceptions here but she isn’t one of them.

Rabbit is the next one to talk about on our list. Like I said, the guy is absolutely insane. It’s hard to know what he is thinking at any given moment and that makes him a dangerous wild card. He is strong but his real strength is his unpredictability. At any moment he can just lunge at you and end the fight. For that reason, I feel like the characters could have had their guard up a little more. It’s not like this guy even looks all that stable right? Rabbit is super smart though. His ability isn’t necessarily the best at first but is one that becomes more and more useful as the fight goes on. in a survival game that is absolutely a really good kind of ability to have. It sets you up just right to make a play for the win.

Then we have Dragon who is one of the only ones that I did not care about. I don’t think the series ever meant for him to be all that interesting though. In a tournament of 12 fighters with only 4 volumes, some fighters can’t get as much depth as the others. I felt like Dragon was one of these guys. His ability isn’t very interesting and the guy doesn’t seem all that tough. So in the end there just isn’t much else for the guy to do. He’s just absolutely busted but not in a powerful way.

Snake suffers from the same fate which isn’t really surprising since they’re basically twins. So he has all of the same issues that Dragon has with no real improvements there. This guy can feel vibrations…but yeah that’s about it. These two are still good to have in the story of course to round out the roster but I don’t imagine that very many people missed them. They just never felt like they were really ready for this level of competition at all.

Horse is one of those guys that I thought had a whole lot of potential but in the end it just wasn’t enough. The way he went out wasn’t super satisfying either to be honest. I know a lot of this is about wits and being careful but even so it was just underwhelming. I still think he made for an interesting character even with the lack of screentime. He’s one of those guys who really would have made waves if he was left on the board for too long as well so it’s easy to see why he had to be targeted early on.

Sheep is the oldest contestant. He’s been around for a long time and so he can’t compete physically at all. The guy has bombs though and one of his big advantages is the guy’s a team player. He’s willing to work with just about everyone but of course in a tournament like this you have to be careful. He has a lot of wits and is a reasonably fun character but at the same time it just feels like he is doomed right away. No matter how skilled you are, can you really make it far without having some level of physical ability? It just seems like a losing battle.

Monkey is the pacifist of the group and so naturally she is one of the most annoying characters. This is a war so of course there’s no way to get through this without violence. For starters that would mean giving up your wish and nobody is going to do that. So she felt rather nonsensical from the start. Monkey has some of the strongest stats in the tournament but it’s not worth much when she isn’t willing to make the first move. She made for an interesting wild card but as a character I just didn’t like her. She definitely went to the wrong tournament, that’s for sure!

Chicken doesn’t have the biggest role but is a fun enough character. She’s not thrilled about being in this whole fight because fighting isn’t her favorite thing. Still, she has a wish to be granted and is ready to get it. Anyone who sounds this nice is rather suspicious right out of the gate though. I would definitely say that for sure. She’s not bad but Chicken doesn’t really stand out next to most of the other fighters. I would consider her to be one of the weaker characters overall.

After that is Dog who is good against poisons. He feels like one of those characters who is also rather underutilized. I couldn’t take him super seriously and he didn’t feel like one of the smarter characters either. The guy definitely needed a better plan here. I’d have been eager to see more of what he can do but in the grand scheme of things, most of the others had more potential so it was definitely a fair tradeoff.

Finally we have Boar who feels like someone who would be the main heroine in another title. Her backstory is rather twisted but her design just feels like the lead. Her infinite ammo ability is really solid and she’s a very confident character. Definitely one of the favorites to win the whole thing and I really enjoyed her character the whole time. Definitely a really fun character to have around at all times.

There is also the referee Duedeculpe but not a whole lot to say about him. Of course he is important for checking on what’s going on and is key to the ending. Not the most interesting character or anything but definitely a necessary one. Especially since he is a part of the mysterious organization which is definitely interesting in itself. Now there’s a group that you definitely can’t underestimate considering how much pull they have. If you get in their way then it’s game over.

Overall, The Zodiac War is a pretty fun series. The battles are all rather intense and the abilities are used wisely. I liked all of the tactics being used here and the ending definitely works really well. It’s a satisfying conclusion that makes the whole thing really worth it. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes a solid action title. I would again caution that this definitely does get very intense but I wouldn’t say it ever gets extremely crazy to the point where it is trying to be an edge lord type title. For the most part the violence is limited to the contestants which is always a big deal.

Overall 6/10

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You Review

Posted on July 21, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the more well known Shojo titles from back in the day. Kimi ni Todoke made a lot of waves and I can see why because at its core its a very pleasant romance title. The drama never gets too crazy and the main romance actually works which is already putting it above 90% of the competition. This is a pairing where both characters are not on the rebound or anything like that. I can really appreciate this and ultimately the series had a good ending as well. It’s a romance that was so good I was tempted to bump it up to an 8 but ultimately I think having it as a very high 7 is still the best spot for it.

The story follows a girl named Sawako who people have dubbed Sadako because she always looks really creepy and upset. Sawako is actually a very nice girl but she’s rather timid and has never been able to stand up for herself. This puts her in a rather difficult position all the time and she would really like to just make friends at some point. So the series is really about her gaining that confidence and finally meeting some people at school. She even gets the attention of Kazehaya, the popular boy at school and he may even like her back? This is Sawako’s time to really make the most of her life and she is ready for this!

The romance is a huge part of the series so lets talk about that right off the bat. Why does it work? Well for one thing we have a lot of time here. It’s not like Sawako meets Kazehaya and they immediately start dating the same week. They don’t even get together immediately in the same semester, it takes over a year before they really get formal and even then they still have to work on getting closer. It’s a romance that takes a lot of time to develop and slow burns are always the best ones without a doubt. I do believe in true love (Not so much love at first sight though) so it’s fine if you fall for someone right away but it should still take time to really be going out and everything. So the series cleared the first big hurdle.

Second big hurdle, there were no rebounds. Sawako wasn’t dating another guy before Kazehaya and he wasn’t dating someone else. They were each other’s first and that’s a big deal. I’m not saying it’s impossible to move on but the romance absolutely gets a mega bump by having them not have any kind of a past. They each stayed strong until they found the right person and didn’t rush things along.

Both characters also have complete lives outside of each other. You’re not having every scene be them obsessing about each other. Kazehaya is still there for his friends like Ryu and even Kento to give advice to. He has a reasonable relationship with Sawako’s friends as well and the same is true for her. We get to really see into their lives and see how they are quality characters. It makes the romance feel a lot more fulfilling.

They’re also not immediately going crazy either, just holding hands took a while. So yes this was a slow burn that followed all of the right steps. If I had any nitpicks, it’s that they came so close to waiting until they were married/engaged but ultimately Kazehaya ran out of willpower near the end when Sawako was on a sleepover. It’s a shame since her parents were counting on him. Obviously since they each love each other and everything it’s not a huge deal but literally they made it to around the last or second last chapter. Would have been nice if he could have stayed strong there.

Since the main romance is good, the rest of the series is automatically on to a good track. That said, the side romance was not as good. Ryu and Chizuru is the B plot on this one. So for some context here, she was originally in love with his brother. The problem is he’s quite a bit older and always saw her as a kid sister. He eventually found a girlfriend and got engaged so Chizuru was forced to move on. This leads to her falling for his younger brother Ryu who has always liked her from the shadows. Unfortunately this is the very definition of a rebound.

The series tries to take its time and develop this one as well but it was unsuccessful this time. No matter how you slice it, she wasn’t ready to move on until she had absolutely no choice. I also don’t think Ryu looked good in staying silent for so long and then making his move after she was rejected. The pairing just never worked and if anything I just felt he was being selfish the whole time so no dice there.

Some characters didn’t have an end game romance and that actually was handled really well. First up we have Kurumi. She started out as the school bully who picked on Sawako. This is because Kurumi secretly liked Kazehaya. Kurumi was good at what she did, she never left any evidence and she actually managed to get completely under Sawako’s skin. That’s not an easy feat and by the end of the series they are true rivals. Sawako and her have a dynamic that can’t be replicated by any of the other characters, she helps Sawako be her true self. Of course Kurumi becomes a better character as the series goes on and is no longer bitter about things.

Where the series really shines is in how her character arc ends. She doesn’t find some guy to rebound with or anything like that. Instead she focuses on her studies and makes peace with the fact that things didn’t work out. Kazehaya likes someone else and always will. She was still a tad awkward around him by the end but that makes sense, it’s not like the feelings completely vanish overnight. One of the characters even mentions how there is nothing admirable about holding onto a one sided love and that’s definitely very true. While getting over someone is not nearly as easy as the movies would have you believe, you just have to try your best and put some distance between you.

Ultimately the feeling might fade or it might not. If it doesn’t, well that’s rough but that’s how it goes. You’d better get used to being single but either way you don’t want to obsess over someone that’ll never be yours. So Kurumi had a very constructive way about getting over her feelings by putting her everything into work and this succeeded. She definitely ended up being one of the better characters by the end.

Another character who had a unique but solid character end was Yano. Again, she fell for someone who couldn’t possibly love her back and this put her into a bit of a slump. Initially she would date any guy just to pass the time by and because she felt bad saying no. Well, that all changed once she met Sawako and Chizuru and got to see what a real relationship was like. Falling for the teacher was definitely a rough blow but the series handled it perfectly. Ultimately she was able to move on and you can assume that down the line she met someone and got to have a good time. She was a really good ally to Sawako throughout the series and always put others first. I appreciated her selflessness the whole time.

Also, at one point she goes out with a guy named Kento and this was another subplot that the series handled masterfully. He’s a really nice guy who did everything he could to win her over. He was as kind as could be and said/did all the right things. Ultimately it just didn’t work out because she didn’t love him. Sometimes that just happens. You could do all of the right things but if the other person is not in love with you then that’s the end of that. It’s all about accepting this and moving on. He didn’t resent her for it and they were able to still talk semi normally.

Kento respected her space and her decision and so I thought he was a very good character. Honestly he’s one of the best in the series because there was no “Nice guy” twist. He wasn’t a faker or insecure or anything like that. He was someone who genuinely wanted to make everyone else happier and I could appreciate that. It’s very rare to see a character like this who is not rewarded in some way by finding someone. As long as he can stay happy then that’s the important part.

While I didn’t care for Chizuru’s romance plot, I will say that she was still a good character. She was always there for Sawako and was a reliable figure. Chizuru may not be the smartest character and can get lightly teased for that but she always means well and works really hard. She is always trying to do the right thing even when there are a lot of misunderstandings and drama.

Ryu also wasn’t bad although I do think he is the weakest out of the main cast. His main thing is that he’s not very emotional or expressive. He tends to think a lot and has good things to say but it takes him a while to get there. Some people are just like that, but ultimately it does mean that he’s not going to be quite as interesting or entertaining as some of the other characters. They’ve definitely got him beat in that area.

His older brother Toru gets a pretty small role but I’ll give him a shoutout for always being cool about everything. He lets Chizuru down very kindly while still being definitive about it. He’s a guy who is very sure of himself and has a lot of confident. Those are important traits in any guy. The same goes for Pin. Yes, Pin messes around a lot and likes to joke but when things get serious, he is always there ready to make the right decision. He especially gets really important in the second half of the series where he is constantly giving everyone really good advice. Without him they all would have fumbled and had tough times for quite a long while.

Pin knows how to support characters based on their personality. Sometimes this even means tricking them a bit with some reverse psychology. Whatever he needs to do, Pin will do it. It’s part of what makes him such a top rate teacher. By the end of the series he even ended up being my favorite out of the whole cast. Just a lot of depth to him and in general I would say most of the characters here had a whole lot of depth. It was really quite impressive.

As for the main two, I talked about their romance but what about their characters? Well first up for Kazehaya, he was a very solid character as you’d expect. One subtle thing the series gave him was a decent amount of jealousy and possessiveness. He was always a nice guy in terms of how he would present himself and how everyone would see him but at the same time he would actually get upset if someone tried making a move on Sawako. He had a bit of a quick temper there and had a hard time not showing it. He dealt with a lot of other issues as well and never took them out on anyone. Kazehaya mixed the traits of being a nice guy with someone who wasn’t perfect all the time and it was good.

Sawako got to see sides of him that nobody else would and it helped to make their relationship feel even more special. Meanwhile Sawako got a ton of great character development. She is able to speak up for herself really easily as the series goes on. She makes her own decisions and gets to also explain herself. The series has her address each and every one of her flaws and insecurities from early on and spin them all the way back around.

There are a bunch of other side characters I haven’t gone into either so read the series to check them all out. The fact that this ran on for 30 volumes is super impressive and it’s another strength to the series. Length plays a huge part in making a romance good like I said earlier. Additionally, I dare say that it helps a series in general as well. You’re given more time to meet the characters, see what makes them tick and everything. By the time the series is over you feel like you’ve gotten to see the characters grow and mature in real time.

I pretty much blasted through the series but I imagine you’d feel this effect even stronger if you had been reading it live, chapter by chapter. They get to show us Christmas and Valentine’s on different years. There are a whole lot of events in the middle, school trips, etc. The series really got to explore all of the different scenarios you would expect to see in a school based story.

Additionally, the series knew how to have fun as well. While romance and drama are probably the main two genres I would list for the series, it definitely had a fair share of comedic moments as well. The series always had a very light tone in between these events. It wasn’t like an onslaught of bad things that kept happening to the characters or it wouldn’t feel like a fun series.

For every tough moment that Sawako had, she got to experience over a dozen great memories. The characters are also very mature and even during an argument they aren’t breaking up or doing anything drastic. They eventually get better and better at actually talking things out and overreacting. From a pure realism standpoint I would say this has to be near the top because just about everything here is fairly believable. You even have the desperate guy in the classroom who flirts with everyone in the hopes of getting any kind of success but it shot down all the time. I didn’t feel bad for Joe by the way, he really didn’t try or apply himself at all. Being desperate like that is just rough.

Overall, Kimi ni Todoke is definitely a high quality series. It succeeds on the romance which is a really big deal all thing considered. The series is long enough where every character gets to have a whole lot of development. Yes, there are setbacks that the various characters have to deal with and some drama that definitely could have been avoided but all in all I thought this was a great story. It felt like a pretty good adaption of what school life would be like and nothing was too exaggerated. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the genre. It has aged really well.

Overall 7/10

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Review

Posted on July 21, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time to take a look at this fantasy romance manga from a while back. It’s always interesting to be looking at the same title twice in a row like this within such a short time frame. The anime was also pretty faithful to the manga so it’s not like there are a lot of changes here. That said, you can be assured that I will be doing fresh writeups for all of the characters and won’t be reusing anything. This is still a complete review in its own right so that fans of the manga are not left out. Lets jump into this one.

The series starts with the humans offering Sariphi up to the monsters as their latest tribute. The world is divided into the human kingdoms and monster ones. There is a rough peace treaty going on which involves the humans sending a sacrifice every year and the monsters leave them alone. Sariphi is surprised though when the beast king Leonhart says that he won’t eat her and to just go away. He’s never destroyed any of the sacrifices and only keeps the tradition alive so that the peace isn’t lost. When Sariphi refuses to leave, he decides to make her queen but this doesn’t please most of his subjects. They insist on her going through many different trials and challenges to prove her worth. Will she be able to pull this off?

Leonhart doesn’t look great for most of the series because of how much he puts up with here though. He’s the king so why is he letting the followers dictate what he can or cannot do? I would understand if he was a president or someone without absolute power, but he is the King. Moreover, he is the strongest in the kingdom. The way I see it, he should just shove aside anyone who gets in his way. It shouldn’t even be a contest, he just needs to tell them what he wants.

Unfortunately he does have some confidence issues despite his bravado. He has a tragic past involving being part human and so a part of him is always worried that this will come out. It’s unfortunate because this really holds him back in a big way and even by the end of the series everyone is pushing him around. He leans too heavily into trying to be a reasonable, democratic leader which doesn’t work when you’re the King. So while I give him some credit for not being evil and destroying the hostages, I didn’t think he worked very well as the main lead.

As for Sariphi, she’s a solid heroine but definitely one who can be rather naive at times. She readily goes into enemy strongholds to prove herself as the upcoming queen and nearly dies several times. She does not put herself in the best positions to win here. I know that she doesn’t want to make herself a burden to the King but without plot armor, that’s exactly what she would have been doing there. If she died in any of the battles then there would have been no chance for peace. She tends to trust everyone right away which isn’t a good idea in this environment. Early on she was good at reading facial expressions and I thought that might play a bigger role later on but it never really did. So I appreciate her bravery but often times it wasn’t really warranted here.

Anastasia has a very small role but ends up looking a lot more formidable. She has survived a long time by keeping to herself and not making big waves. You get the feeling that she could defend herself if needed though. I liked her quiet confidence here and if anything it’s too bad that she didn’t get more of a role. She’s really good for the info dumps but that’s about it.

Now for a great character we have Lanteveldt. He goes from being a lone wolf type figure to Sariphi’s most reliable attendant. The guy has serious skills and while he isn’t quite the strongest fighter in the kingdom, he always gives it his 100%. I like his confidence and in this case it’s a loud one. The guy will talk tough to anyone and doesn’t back down just because someone else is royalty. This kind of character is always a lot of fun and he elevates the series whenever he appears. He gets some critical fights throughout and even when he loses, he prioritizes protecting Sariphi whenever he can. Now that’s what I call a quality character.

We also have Bennu who does his best to protect Sariphi at all times. He has the abilities of the Phoenix so he is in a good position to do this, but at the end of the day it does take time to transform. So I would say that Lanteveldt is still a bit more reliable in that sense. Also, Sariphi tends to have Bennu wait instead of attacking immediately which also stacks the deck against that character. Not much you can do when your leader says to stand back right?

Ilya thinks of himself as a protector but he looks really bad right out of the gate. He really doesn’t read the situation at all and part of the problem is the way he handled the situation. Even if she was kidnapped by evil monsters, Ilya treated Sariphi so roughly the whole time. There’s no way it would have gone well and she would have resented him regardless. The fact that he refused to listen to her at all was crazy. Yeah he gets his big redemption arc in the end but the guy had so much potential and squandered it immediately.

Now Fenrir at least makes for a very imposing villain. He’s the second strongest character in the series behind Leonhart and the guy has a lot of aura. He does get a little whiny at times and I didn’t buy into the origin story much but he does serve his roll well as a villain. I definitely have to give him that. When he appears, you know that he is going to go all out and he gives us one of the rare fights in the series. Ultimately he may not have been a match for the king but at least he tried to fight him fair and square without cheap tricks.

His right hand man Gleipnir was really solid and definitely one of the standout characters. Now he definitely had a really tough backstory. Things really did not go his way at all and yet the guy continued to stand strong. Once he was saved by Fenrir, he proved to be super loyal and did everything he could to make him the king. The guy was also super powerful in his own right and I dare say he would be 3rd in the series in terms of power level. With his battle IQ I wouldn’t even be shocked if he could dethrone the top two.

Then we have Set as another one of the big villains but he is the kind of guy to use cheap shots the whole time. He plays politics and uses optics to try and take Leonhart down since he knows that victory would be impossible otherwise. Hey, it’s a valid tactic considering how weak the guy is but ultimately I couldn’t take him seriously. His entire plan revolves around all of the guards being mentally weak, the country turning against Leonhart, and Anubis being a big traitor. So in my mind this was not a good plan at all and should have failed right out of the gate. The fact that it didn’t fail basically comes down to luck which is why it was not a great plan. I was just waiting for Set to go down the whole time. Somebody needed to teach him a lesson after all!

Anubis is a character I lost a lot of respect for. I talked about loyalty a lot for Landeveldt and Gleipnir. It’s what made them such great characters because they would follow their leader no matter what. Ultimately the problem with Anubis is that he could not keep that same energy. When the chips were down and the situation got tough, he folded immediately. Not what you want to see out of a character like this. Even though he eventually sees the light, I couldn’t forget this. Whenever a character betrays a close friend like that just because of third party sources or without confronting the guy directly. Anubis doesn’t have a true confrontation with Leonhart before going crazy.

Jormungand is a hero who actually has loyalty and does his best to protect the king. He doesn’t hesitate when the truth of his past comes out and continues to fight. Honestly, it’s rough how many people were quick to turn against Leonhart when he was exposed. He’s still the same guy after all. A lot of them really got lucky with how nice he is because there would be a ton of people in jail after I rose back up to power. A lot of them were actively trying to murder him as well which is downright crazy.

Joz and Galois were fun supporting characters who tested Sariphi. What I liked about their test was that it didn’t involve mortal danger or putting her through a whole lot of risk. They just wanted to assess what her character was like and they did good in that respect. It makes sense as a test and once she passed it, they knew she could be trusted. Anubis could learn more things from this instead of trying to undermine her at every possible opportunity. Then Tetra also got to test Sariphi even if it wasn’t quite an intentional test in the same way. Sariphi still showed that she was a good person at her core. She may have had a hard time establishing boundaries but I did appreciate that she was always there to make the world a better place in any little way that she could. If she could just have a little more confidence to shut characters down in their tracks, that would have been perfect!

The art in the manga is pretty good. It can actually get rather intense during some of the battles. The enemies and heroes are stabbing each other after all so some violence is actually expected here. The backstories can also get rather intense. It’s nothing too crazy and this is still a Shojo but the art was ready for whatever tone the manga wanted to present.

In the end it’s still a bit ironic that the series didn’t land any of the romances since it is a romance title but that’s just how it goes of course. With the main romance it’s still hard to get behind the beast thing. It’s a mix of him just being too much like an animal and Sariphi looking like a kid. Even once Leonhart has his human form, you’re just not given much of a reason for her to have fallen in love with him. If anything it feels more like gratitude for being kept alive which is fine but that feels different from love. Then you have Jormungand with one of the attendants but it feels like a one sided crush for most of the series. Once they finally get together it is just a bit too rushed.

While I can’t quite co-sign any of the romances in this series, I do think it handled the other kinds of relationships well. The different friendships in the series are really solid and I liked the master/student dynamics. There was always a great sense of honor and chivalry to be had here. While I don’t care for old settings as much as being in the city, the world building was handled well. It doesn’t feel like all of the issues got to be handled just yet but you have to assume that the main duo will eventually be going around fixing all of the other kingdoms. Ultimately it’s also not like you can just fix everyone but the world is definitely in a much better spot than it had been in previously.

Overall, This is a manga that is fairly strong in some areas but also weak in others. The main flaw is the romance which is really on the weak side and it’s rough because that is such a focus in the story. I ultimately couldn’t get behind the main pairing and that’s hard to get around. In the end the manga couldn’t surpass this, but it’s not a bad read by any means. I would still be able to recommend it if you’re a real big fan of the Beauty and the Beast since it’s going for those vibes. There are definitely better options for Shojo titles out there which is why you would not likely need to resort to this one.

Overall 5/10

Kaiju No. 8: B-Side Review

Posted on July 14, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a Kaiju No. 8 spinoff that lasted for a little while. Miniseries like this are always fun to flesh out the side characters with material that we never got to see in the main title. It’s a good idea and I think more manga should do this. I would have liked it to have been longer if anything, but we still got to see 3 different characters and their origins which was fun. They picked really solid characters to do this with. I guess at this point there are just 3 more that I would like to see a full prequel with. Captain Ashiro, and then both of Kikoru’s parents. Maybe someday though.

The first story is the origin for Hoshino. All his life he has trained in the ways of the sword but the problem is that this is seen as very ineffective against Kaiju nowadays. Most of them are just too large so the sword won’t pierce and even for the smaller ones, it seems a lot more efficient to just mow them down with a machine gun. Hoshino really wants to stick to the sword though, that has been his family legacy after all. Finally he is being given a chance by Captain Ashiro. Can he live up to her hopes or is he about to just doom his chances of ever being a true Kaiju hunter?

It’s definitely fun to see Hoshino in the old days and he already had great speed and ability. Honestly I never thought the series made a good case for why guns beat swords. The gun blasts vary based on how much power you can get out of the suit and the way I see it, almost nobody can get a reasonable amount of power out of the suit. So in that case, it ends up feeling like they’re just spinning their wheels there. It’s not a great long term approach at all. So if everyone had swords, at least they could stab into the Kaiju because the power of the suit won’t limit the sword as much as it would a gun. Maybe there are more reasons for not using swords though.

Either way Ashiro made a wise decision in picking Hoshino for her team. He has definitely proven himself a whole lot and he really did good against the Kaiju fighters in the first story. He would go on to consistently be one of the best characters in the series. Following him up would be a tough choice but the series went with Kikoru which makes sense. She is also a prodigy after all. In this case we already know her origin from the main series though so what would the story be about?

The title decides to show us how she ended up picking out her custom weapon. Her normal weapon wasn’t strong enough to pierce the armor of the Kaiju that she was up against in the training exercises so she grabbed an axe and then the rest was history. You could tell that the writer was a little more constrained with this character since we see her a lot in the main story but this was a smart way to get us some more fights and everything. It’s definitely much smaller scale than the first story with the stakes not being as large but it was satisfying to see her rise up to the top.

The Kaiju corp is definitely lucky to have so many prodigies on the team. In some ways it’s why the series reminds me of World Trigger because the heroes have so many different hype characters on the roster. They just keep on coming and so you’d think the enemies might be in a bad spot but fortunately for them, they have a lot of strong fighters too. If they had actually made a move before the heroes grew so powerful, it would probably be curtains by now.

Finally the last story is about Gen and how he was recruited. The guy started out as a…guess what…a huge prodigy! As a kid without a suit he was already powerful enough to take down some of the smaller Kaiju on his own. Mix in the Kaiju suit and now he was basically unstoppable. This guy has the special kaiju eye implants that can let him detect future attacks. So mix that in with his relentless training/ability and he is one of the strongest in the series. I dare say that he easily surpasses both Hoshina and Kikoru in skill. I’d like to see a quick story with a rivalry between those 3 characters to be honest. That would have been a fun way to finish up the series as a bonus story of sorts.

Ultimately I suppose the point of the series is to hype up the main one and get more readers on it. It does a good job with that as each chapter ends with a flash forward to the main series as everyone gets hyped to take on the Kaiju. The monsters don’t stand a chance against the combined might of human ingenuity! The art is definitely really high tier and holds its own with the main series. All of the action scenes are drawn really well and the villains are definitely very imposing. Of course this is before we got to the intelligent Kaiju so they’re basically just classic monsters but the designs are really good.

This is a rare example of an anthology where I liked all of the characters/stories. Usually in formats like this, there will always be at least one that holds the others back but this wasn’t the case here. I guess it goes to show how solid the cast is for the series. Kaiju No 8 has a very small cast of notable characters next to other titles but that’s probably a good thing in this case. It allows each one to stand out way more than they ever would have if they tried introducing too many characters. Still, like I said before there are some other characters around if they want to go and start working on those in another anthology spinoff.

Overall, All 3 stories were really good. The series was really a bunch of nonstop action scenes across the 3 leads which worked perfectly for this one. That’s why you are reading Kaiju No 8 after all. You’re here for all of the fights and the intrigue. The series never holds back on this. The art is still really solid and so this is a must read for any fan of the franchise. Even if you don’t read Kaiju No 8 this works as a solid jumping on point. Then if you enjoyed this prequel, you can jump into the main story right away. That’s a good way to handle things.

Overall 7/10

Edens Zero Review

Posted on July 11, 2024 by dreager1

As everyone who reads works created by Mashima knows…the best ship is friendship. Friendship is something that will take you very far. When you think you’re at the end of your rope or that you are going to get absolutely dominated once more, just remember to reach out to your friends. Eden Zero is filled with lots of great and positive messages the whole time. I really appreciate this the whole time. That being said…., the series is held back massively by the crazy amounts of fanservice contained within. Trust me, it’s an absolutely absurd amount of fanservice the whole time. It will chill you to the bone. This could have easily been a 9/10 series but it just couldn’t overcome all of this.

The series starts with a V Tuber named Rebecca deciding to head to a robot amusement park planet. On it, she meets a boy named Shiki who was raised by robots. He doesn’t even know how to have a basic interaction with another human which is a little strange. The guy seems to really be behind the times but the robots ask her to take Shiki with her since they will be dying soon. This leads to some tearful goodbyes but she takes Shiki along with her on the V Tuber journey. Shiki gets to make a lot of other friends as he journeys with her but there won’t be time for too much fun. The entire multiverse is at risk because of various opponents who want to destroy everything. Can Shiki stop them?

First thing’s first, the art is absolutely spectacular as you would expect. This guy is super experienced from the days of Fairy Tail so this isn’t really much of a surprise. It’s still got some of the best looking fights and character designs that you will see in manga. It’s really spectacular and the paneling is on a completely different level. It’s the kind of series you could easily binge from start to finish as a result because it’s just so easy to read through. The artist has real skills here.

Unfortunately it is a double edged sword as the series is very quick to jump into fanservice the whole time. You can barely go two pages without something crazy happening on screen. I dare say that it may even match Fairy Tail in that regard. Fairy Tail may still have the edge in frequency but this one has the edge in how extreme the fanservice elements get. Lets just say that things get real disturbing here and the series also gets really granular about the fanservice as well. It tries to hit every possible niche which isn’t always a good thing. Wait…it’s never a good thing. Yeah this series was cooked from the start. It’s one of those titles that is a 9/10 in terms of hype but ultimately sinks to a 1/10.

It’s just not a series that you could easily read in public or ever recommend to anyone so automatically that means that it is a bad series. You really can’t come back from that. The series can also get a little overly dark as well. Usually it goes hand in hand with the fanservice but quite a few villains like to focus on humiliation. You can see how that gets rough real quick. Others have to become slaves for a while and others are thrown to the wolves. Quite a few characters meet very grisly fates throughout the series which is unfortunate.

I would say that this is to keep pace with the themes that the series has by the end. The heroes are fighting to achieve a perfect world where everyone finally gets their happy ending. To do that, they hop between different timelines and pasts. Well, this isn’t their goal for most of the series but by the end this happens. So after seeing how everyone had such a tragic end, we can be happy that they have peace the next time around. It’s a good concept but you probably could have toned down the bad endings a little bit.

Also while the series is fairly long, the ending still ends up being super rushed which is almost impressive but in a sad way. There was definitely more time to continue so I’m not sure why the series ended so abruptly. This was definitely the time to get in some more massive fight scenes. Rushed nature aside though, I can’t be upset with how it finished though. This is the kind of really happy ending that I could get behind. It was satisfying that after such a long and dangerous journey, the characters were allowed to actually thrive and have a good time. I definitely can’t fault that.

Now lets talk about the characters here. I’ll just say right now that every story arc is bogged down by the fanservice. I’ll get this out of the way now so I don’t have to be super repetitive. It’s not like Fairy Tail where it took a while for that to show up. Nah, in this title they went hard from the jump and put in every possible effort to stop any of the arcs from being as high tier as they should have been. Naturally I won’t be going into every character but I’ll tackle a bunch of the big ones.

Amira is one of the big missed opportunities of the series because she seemed like an interesting character with a lot of mystery. She’s a secret agent of sorts who is a master of disguise and usually seems to be one step ahead of the other characters. She gets a whole lot of respect but doesn’t end up doing much with it. I remember always being intrigued when she would show up…and then she would just vanish as quickly as she had appeared. It felt like an odd decision.

Brigandine is a solid villain who had a good honor code. He came in at a rough point narratively so the guy was not a threat but he was technically powerful. I tend to like the strong types who stick to fighting within the combat rules and don’t take hostages or anything like that. He’s the kind of villain who will be memorable based on how much you enjoyed his battle or not. If you weren’t a big fan then that would be the end of that.

God Acnoella has such a cool name so you would expect her to be one of the very best right? Well, unfortunately she still has quite a few limitations on screen time. Make no mistake, she gets a ton of hype constantly but it never amounts to much. I really thought she should have had more of a grand final fight so we could actually see what she could do. Another missed opportunity and you’ve seen me say that a few times. It’s just that there’s a lot more you could have done with some of these characters.

Happy works well as the main mascot here. I like that he is effectively just like the Happy from Fairy Tail. It’s technically a different one but has a similar personality and everything. He definitely has a real intense backstory so you feel bad for him too but he messes around less than the FT version. This is one that you can actually count on to have your back.

Hermit is one of the main characters and she is a super genius. She may not be able to fight on quite the same high level as the other generals but you can’t underestimate her IQ. She absolutely holds her own there and saves the group on many occasions thanks to that. She can hack into any system and ends up making it look easy. I liked when we would have the cyber fights because it was a great excuse to get her into the action as opposed to having her just be on the sidelines. It was a great decision all the way around and she adds a lot to the dynamic with her cheerful disposition.

Jaguar was a fun villain. You sort of knew that he was doomed from the start but I thought he actually put up a much better fight than expected and even held his own. The guy was strong and fast which is a good combination. Considering that he wasn’t the main villain of his arc, the author gave him a good amount of hype. I definitely enjoyed him even if he may not have been the most powerful villain out there. He was still strong enough to make a difference.

Justice is a fun character although a big part of why he’s fun is his banter with Elsie. The author had a good time making them very similar to two of the characters from Fairy Tail and it works well. The guy has incredible physical abilities and is one of the stronger characters in the series for a while but gets written out along with Elsie later on. He had a good design and a solid skillset which automatically made him a really fierce member. Meanwhile I also liked Elsie a lot. She was always ready for a fight and stayed prepared the whole time. You weren’t about to catch her lacking which is important. She has a whole lot of battle experience at her disposal after all.

Joker is a super powerful villain but one of those figures that the series may have made a little bit too powerful. With the ability to stop time for fairly long periods and a very solid energy source, it’s just hard to see how this being could be defeated. I wasn’t entirely convinced with the method that the series brought up. It’s why time stop abilities are always so overpowered. It’s just really hard to stop them. Still, Joker had a great design and really showed up out of nowhere near the end so that was a lot of fun.

Kleene is one of those characters who had a really tragic origin story. Easily one of the toughest ones to live through here although Edens Zero sometimes works as a trauma contest. So I can tell you there are tons of competitors for this position. Poor Rebecca has to be up there as well along with Homura’s mother. The list goes on and on, the dark nature of the series could be rather exhausting a lot of the time to be honest. Kleene is definitely the definition of a character who started out as an intimidating boss and quickly became super weak once she turned heroic though. She still had a few battles here and there but never got that intimidating aura back.

Meanwhile her brother Jinn got to keep on fighting though. He was a really solid figure who was just looking out for his sister the whole time so I definitely appreciated that. His wind abilities were real good. He may have ended up getting power creeped as the series went on but he always had a cool personality. Then you had Laguana who sort of took over his role as protector of the group in the later stages. He was protective of the younger fighters and really had a big change of heart compared to his early days of being a villain as well. His ability to turn you into water if you start crying was super unique and also very deadly. Once you’re water, there’s really nothing you can do except accept defeat. You may think that not crying would be easy but in a series about friendship and loss that happens quite often.

Labilia starts off as a super petty bully but actually gets a ton of character development. Her backstory feels a bit retroactive when it shows up to be honest but all in all I thought she was a really fun character. Sometimes you need a petty villain to shake things up a little aside from the super cruel end of the world type threats. Ultimately it’s not like she can fight so she tends to vanish from the spotlight most of the time. Couchpo is another V Tuber that gets a fairly big role. She likes to eat a lot which is always cool. It helps her stand out among the pack.

Lyra is one of those villains who was really just created as an excuse to throw more fanservice into the mix. She wants to humiliate Rebecca in a rigged game and that is basically the whole point of her existence. It’s definitely annoying and doesn’t make her an endearing character at all. You’ll forget about her right away even if you don’t forget the events. Then you have Mother who is a cosmic being with limitless powers but she ends up not doing much either. One of those characters who plans things out and says a lot of grand stuff but when the chips are down she seems to just not care about anything. She certainly doesn’t go out of her way to help Shiki and pals even when she is literally dying.

Noah is someone who can somehow see into different timelines and knows when the universe has been reset. We never actually go too far into this but he works well as a plot device who gets to give the info dumps and keep everyone on track. I’d like it more if he could fight or do something in addition to that though. It makes him come across as a bit of a flat character at times. Meanwhile Holy is a lot more fun as a government officer who does whatever she wants. She isn’t above using blackmail and has characters on all sides afraid of what she will do next. Her abilities are really solid but the main thing is that she has confidence. She knows that no matter what she does, all eyes will be on hers. It takes a lot of guts to be getting involved with such fierce fighters.

Then from the main characters we have Rebecca who is a super solid main heroine. She can fight really well with the rest of the characters and I like her unwavering confidence. She is the kind of character who is always pro actively looking for some way to help the rest of the fighters and I appreciate that. She gets a ton of character development and screentime of course and only gets better with each appearance. Definitely a character who gets a lot of credit for the series being as solid as it was. Well…that may sound like an insult since the score is low so a better way to phrase this is that she added a lot to the dynamic and was really fun.

Next up is Homura and her gimmick is that she always says exactly what she is thinking. No matter how inappropriate or out of place it may be. She will just speak her mind and it gets her into a lot of jams. Fortunately she is also super good with a sword and makes up for this by really protecting the team when they need a defender the most. I definitely enjoyed her character and she is very well meaning. It really goes to show how the main cast of Edens Zero was really solid. I actually enjoyed all of the super core characters even if the supporting characters start to fade out after that.

For example Connor is one of these guys. He tries to present himself as a capable captain but has way too many slip ups for me to take him seriously. He’s not the guy you want to have by the wheel because he gets distracted too easily. Even his wholesome plot twists are not enough to save him because they ring hollow by then. Nah this was a character who had too many flaws and never ended up being all that good.

Now Void was a superb character even if he was introduced super late into the game. He has a very solid backstory that may be a bit convoluted but it works well in context. He is one of the strongest characters in the series without a doubt and can hold his own with any of the other fighters. He has a top tier design and top tier abilities so you can’t ask for much more out of him than that right? Then there is Ziggy who looks really similar and there are a lot of comparisons that you can make across the two characters.

Ziggy’s motivations and everything get a little complicated as well. Needless to say, he’s definitely a really fun villain to have around though. He would always shake things up quite a lot and helped Shiki to really evolve as a fighter. Poseidon was another villain who really made things tough on the heroes. His abilities were the real deal and despite being older, his abilities really didn’t falter. He has the power of luck on his side which is really strong but of course if you are simply stronger than fate then it won’t work. Such is the big limitation of hax type abilities like that so it made for a very satisfying fight.

Shura was the real threat in the Poseidon arc though. Now here is a super demented villain who just likes to inflict pain all of the time. He was definitely way too sadistic for me to really like him as a villain but he definitely had a real intimidating aura about him. The guy was someone you absolutely did not want to cross because if you did then that would be curtains forever. His gravity abilities were some of the best in the series too. Most of the strongest fighters actually had gravity now that I think about it. It makes sense though, that has always been one of the most powerful elements for good reason.

Back to the heroes, Sister was surprisingly a sadistic character as well. It’s played for laughs but she always enjoys torturing Rebecca as one of her past times. She messes with different characters like this and so you’re reminded that you probably wouldn’t want to be living on the Edens Zero. It would be fairly unforgettable but not a very pleasant spot to be in.

Witch gets the smallest role from the shining generals if you ask me. She never got as much of an origin story and her supporting characters didn’t get as personal as the others. She is a good member of the crew and probably the most mature to be honest but she doesn’t end up standing out quite as much as she could have. Then you have Valkyrie who steals the show as soon as she shows up. She actually gets even less screentime than some of the other characters and yet it doesn’t matter because of how overwhelming her presence is. When she shows up, the characters have to take notice. Her fighting skills are absolutely top tier.

Xenolith is a mentor type figure who shows up for a bit and then becomes one of the antagonists. His role isn’t as big as you would expect from this character type. I like that he put some of the characters in their place who were trying to be a bit iffy. I wouldn’t say that he’s a high tier character or anything like that though. Then you have Xiaomei who knows a whole lot and constantly breaks the 4th wall. It’s always interesting to have a character like this but she doesn’t really add a lot to the story so she could have been cut out here.

Throughout the story there are scenes that take place millions of years in the future and they eventually tie into the story but it sure takes a long while. The series isn’t afraid to jump into time travel and loops which is admirable but you could do that without Xiaomei giving us spoilers and foreshadowing. If anything I think that would even benefit the mystery so it could tell its own story right there.

Now for some of the villains. One that is really memorable is Clown but more because he is a very twisted villain than because he is a good one. It’s a fine line between being a good villain and one who is creepy just to be creepy. I didn’t end up liking this guy. I can acknowledge that he is super powerful but yeah he’s not going to be near the top. Then you have Cure who ends up being a super big boss. Another guy with an intimidating design and a ton of raw power but I wouldn’t call him a good villain. He gets a little too twisted and dark with how he deals with the Holy and the other fighters. Edens Zero definitely had a problem about getting too dark sometimes.

This naturally goes to Drakken Joe as well. This guy is a true Kingpin type figure among the underworld and so he gets mixed up in a lot of twisted stuff. The series does not miss with the incredible designs as he is another one you could throw ono the list. This is definitely a world where you rarely feel bad for the villains by the end because they really do not hold back at all.

Eraser is sort of a villain. He works for the government but the guy just follows orders no matter what so he’s basically a villain. It’s a shame that he never got to fight much but I think it’s because his ability is broken. As his name suggests, he can erase things, including large pockets of space. He takes down large parts of a whole army and it’s super impressive. In theory he could destroy almost any character in the series without any real effort.

Back to the heroes, Pino is a nice little robot that is always helping the heroes. It’s always nice to see her around. She’s not particularly tough or anything but is always around to spread kindness and cheer. Then you have Weisz who is a super engineer. He would have been known as the resident genius but Hermit has that covered. I like his mech suit and in general he’s handy. I feel like he didn’t fully keep up with the power creep later on in the series but he’s always a central figure at all times.

Finally, we have Shiki. As the main character he is naturally a huge character and he’s a lot of fun to root for. He’s one of the biggest advocators for friendship that I have ever seen. Now admittedly he can take this a little too far at times. There are some things that you can’t forgive nearly as easily as he does. It’s just not going to work. That being said, the idea behind the character is a good one. He gets a solid amount of rage modes throughout as well. I would say I enjoyed him a lot more than Natsu from the author’s other series. Shiki is a high tier lead who could hold his own in any series.

As you can tell from all of the images, the series does absolutely go all out on the friendship themes and it is really endearing. I like that the series isn’t embarrassed about this or going half heartedly about it. We get to really explore what it means to be friends in a whole lot of different circumstances. Not just how to get friends but to handle them. You support each other and meddle in affairs as needed. Like I said, it can be a bit unrealistic but I’ve never seen another title be this unrelenting about it which works really well. Yet another part of the series that could have made the whole title elite if it didn’t have other issues slowing it down the whole time.

That’s about it for the characters. Of course there are dozens and dozens of other characters scattered within the series but you will need to read the title to see them all. It’s still not a title that I can really recommend though. Yes, it brought tons of hype and I had a really good time for a lot of the fights. However, the negatives still outweigh the positives with all of the dark elements and fanservice. It just gets really over the top here. Man, why did it have to happen to a title with such dynamite art and time travel elements?

Overall, Eden Zero is one of those series that I will always look at a little fondly in spite of its negatives. It’s certainly a series I could never recommend and one that I would spend a lot of time skipping massive chunks of if I ever gave it a re read. However, the peak moments of the series are super good. You really get invested in the characters and the writing is really good. It’s always a shame when there’s just so much fanservice that it takes away from the story. I really wanted to read this one for the plot but the other elements made that close to impossible. It’s a shame but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Overall 1/10

Saint Seiya: Next Dimension Review

Posted on July 4, 2024 by dreager1

Uh oh, it’s time to look at the big Saint Seiya sequel. Basically this series is really trying to see just how far a good fight scene can take you. The story is a mess, the power levels are all over the place, the concepts are all recycled and the ending is terrible. And yet….I would say this is still a very solid series so just how good is the Saint Seiya cast to pull this off? I would think of it as a title of ultimate missed possibilities that tries its best to sabotage itself at every turn but was unable to finish the job. That’s the best way to look at this title and it really makes you think.

After Seiya took out Hades, he has been unable to regain consciousness in the present. In the present, the other Saints head to the past in order to find a way to wake him up. They then get to fight alongside Tenma and relive the events of Lost Canvass but in a very watered down, abridged version of that series. They have unfortunately not stayed sharp in their training and so they have a super hard time against all of the Gold Saints there but they have to keep on trying. The god of time Chronos has some plans of his own but this isn’t Episode G so the series never does much with him. Then meanwhile the angels have shown up to murder Seiya and have to contend with Marin and Shaina. They must be pretty weak eh?

So the series is jumping around a whole lot here. There are over 100 chapters but don’t let that fool you, the series itself is not as long as it sounds. A bunch of chapters are less than 10 pages long and you can often go several chapters without much actual plot progression. This is rough because this is a series that was trying to have a super big and ambitious plot. Without that at the ready, it starts to fall apart a bit. The main complaint the series has is that it’s just recycling ideas from the main Saint Seiya all the time and I have to admit that this is very valid. It basically replays the original series to a T.

The Saints run through the temples as they fight every Gold Saint and then take on the mastermind. We actually do this more than once as the bronze saints run the gambit but then a gold saint does too. There’s not much rhyme or reason to the fights as the bronze saints should be crushing these guys in their sleep but have a super tough time for no reason. The fights tend to be short and just follow the same format over and over and over again. There’s no creativity or originality to be found here at all so you better enjoy the confrontations themselves.

Then of course you have the prequel stuff with Tenma. Again, Lost Canvass did that better but this series tries its best. We get to see Tenma get a lot of fights and Hades gets his moments but there’s just way less time for them to do anything. Episode G, Lost Canvass, and the Saint Seiya Heaven Overture movie all handled their plots better because they had the time for it. This is trying to adapt parts from all 3 at the same time and ends up failing completely as an adaption there. My recommendation is to treat this title as not being canon and then you’re in a good space.

Well in the prequel timeline, Tenma is still a fun character. He may effectively be a watered down Seiya most of the time but he still has ambitions and tries to get stronger to fulfill them. I give him credit for standing up to every villain in his way and never giving up. The previous Hades is a lot more weak willed since he can’t resist the dark powers at all. I suppose it’s good that he at least had the powers so he wasn’t just getting destroyed the whole time.

Dohko and Shion get the biggest roles out of the old Gold Saints to mirror how that was the case in Lost Canvass as well. They’re not bad but do tend to follow the rules a bit too strictly instead of making their own decisions. Shion talks tough but will usually just go along with what Dohko says. Dohko may try to be the rebel but at the end of the day he goes for all of the traditions so I don’t quite buy into that image they were going for. He certainly does look more impressive than the others from a power perspective though and actually fights more than 1 big battle. I like Dohko so seeing him get a big role is always cool.

On the villains side, most of them don’t actually get to have a big role. The various specters are around but they tend to be discarded quickly. The biggest villain is definitely Suikyo who gets to do quite a lot. He used to be a hero and then he went over to the dark side which shocked everybody. His power levels are immense and he has his own very convoluted reasons for working with the villains. You may understand them but good luck on agreeing with them. He’s the kind of character that you just shake your head at because he created the situation that he is now trying to stop.

The most interesting plot is in the present so that’s why it’s a shame that almost the whole series is in the past. Lets take a look at Artemis, she’s Athena’s older sister and someone with a lot of power in her own respect. We could get some interesting dynamics and banter here but unfortunately Athena herself prevents that from happening with how passive she is. She spends the whole series letting every character tell her what an awful person she is, then she has to die again, and finally the other gods bad mouth her in the climax.

I’d like Athena to just get tough and start fighting back by this point. It’s clear that nobody is going to agree with her or help her out at least from the gods so she should try to take them out. If she loses then they’ll end up murdering her but that’s what they’re going to do anyway. I dare say that Athena is probably one of the worst leaders that you can possibly ask for. I can’t think of a more annoying figure to have to serve in a situation like this.

Then we have Apollo who has a cool design and everything but it’s not like he’s any more reasonable. He’s another villain who thinks that humans are pests. No matter how he tries to frame this, the guy is a complete villain. He wants to murder everyone on the Earth so you can’t really get out of that. In this series it feels to me like Athena is the only god who is on the heroes’ side. That’s yet another reason why she should be trying to take them down instead of listening to their whims.

At least Chronos is being helpful in the series even though you know that he absolutely has an angle. At least he’s going to wait and betray the heroes later on so we’ll take what we can get. Marin and Shaina look good in the present even if it doesn’t make sense that they can do anything against fighters of this level. It’s definitely more than a little cheesy and I would have advised the author to not even include them to be honest. At least not in any of the fights.

Seiya really only gets to actually do stuff for about a chapter but it was still nostalgic seeing him around. As always he is one of the only characters who will actually get up and start making some noise while the gods are attacking. A lot of the characters will look the other way or try to buy time but Seiya just does what he has to and I appreciate that. It’s why he is still known as such a legendary main character. Any future story needs to make sure to involve him a lot earlier this time. Like the chapter where the angel shows up to take him out was excellent and then from there the series couldn’t capitalize on this.

Ultimately a big reason for this is because the Seiya plot was actually new content. It wasn’t just the same story beats once more but this time it was a completely original story. Keeping up with more of that would have done a world of good for the story. Like Phoenix Ikki’s first appearance is incredibly awesome because of how it felt different. He shows up talking tough that he would beat the specter and the gold saint. That was really good and as always Ikki is a top tier character. Nobody was able to match that kind of aura.

Andromeda fans can be happy that he appears a lot here but it’s a double edged sword. On one hand, for a decent chunk of the series it’s just him and Tenma running through the temples while the other Saints are still in the present. However, Andromeda tends to lose a lot and doesn’t look even remotely impressive. The fact that Gold Saints are literally one shotting him is absolutely embarrassing. That should not be happening to any of the main characters. He has gone up against gods, why is he falling backwards like this? Like I said before, power levels are thrown out here.

Hyoga and Shiryu don’t get huge roles here compared to the others but you can still be assured that they get their big fights. They struggle at first and then they mount the comeback in exactly the way you would imagine that they would. It may not be original but at least in this way you know exactly what to expect ahead of time. That should be a load off at least although we would all take a new story any day. Hyoga’s entrance wins from the two though as he at least gets to scare off one of the angels which looks real impressive on his end.

Then we have Ophiuchus who shows up as the 13th Gold Saint. I’m not totally sure what the point of him was when we already had Suiryu but this guy gets a ton of hype. He’s the nicest guy out there but also has a super dark side like the Gemini saint. He’s really all over the place and works as a true wild card in a lot of respects because absolutely nobody can trust him. He’ll be fighting at your side one second and then suddenly he will be stabbing you from the back. What can you even do in that kind of circumstance right? I didn’t like him as a character because of how he lacked will power but he makes for a good villain.

I will say that the art is still solid as always. The series really nails the condescending look that the series is known for. Characters will diss each other with their eyes closed which I think is the absolute ultimate level of this. It shows that they are absolutely not messing around and will go to any lengths to mess with the other characters. The fights are also good when they happen although now they tend to be more like one shot fights towards the end of the series. Gone are the days of the longer fights which were always more fun.

Okay so with all of this bashing you may be wondering how this can possibly get a positive score. Well, it all comes down to the source material being that good. Think of it like playing a color swapped version of your favorite video game that promises a secret level at the end of it. Almost everything is old and done already but you’re still having a good time because the old levels are still fun. That’s how this one goes, it may be the same plot developments that you have seen already, but they are good plots.

At this point I’ve watched the first arc of the Saint Seiya series so many times with all of the remakes and adaptions. What’s doing it one more time right? At least in this case there are some slight differences as well which is important to recognize. So it’s not completely old even if in the large scheme of things that is what’s effectively happening here. You do wish that the series would do more but hey it’s still a blast. One thing that really helps is that I didn’t get caught up until later on so I didn’t have to wait nearly as long as the fans who were around since day 1. I know for those guys the wait was certainly more brutal so I get it.

The ending can also make the whole series feel like a waste of time. I’d say it helps that I can just look at Lost Canvass and the Saint Seiya movie to make those canon instead of this series. The hardcore fans may say that is impossible and in a sense it is, but I don’t get tied down quite as tightly by that kind of logic. So if I had a better time with the other story then I’ll still keep it as the real continuation.

Then this series avoided fanservice, any real big holes, and kept up a lot of action. So once again I say if you look at this series objectively without taking the other titles into account, I would call it a great series. It’s hard to look at it in a vacuum since of course this series is a sequel and is intended as such but that’s the best way to look at it. Or as a crazy AU and then you’re able to have more fun with it.

Overall, I tend to be rather desperate for more Saint Seiya content. It’s a franchise that is just way too awesome and interesting to put down. There’s always something cool happening here and the power levels go absolutely crazy. It’s just a lot of fun but this series really squandered all kinds of opportunities. This should have been an extremely easy 9/10 with just the bare minimum amount of effort. It’s clear that the writer just isn’t as engaged with the series at this point though and I have doubts that it can continue with the final 2 arcs. If this is the end of the series…well it definitely ended on a whimper that’s for sure. This will always be known as the series that fell short even if I did have a great time with it overall. Hopefully it can get a really high budget anime adaption which can take some of the spotlight away from the story.

Overall 8/10

Blame! Review

Posted on June 30, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a really abstract/intense sci-fi title. Blame! is one of those series that really doesn’t spoon feed you too many details so you really have to figure everything out on your own. It’s an exciting way to read through the series and then see how different your takeaways were from someone else’s. There are a lot of things you should agree on as well of course and there are some things that the series will tell you. It’s definitely an unforgettable sci-fi title with a ton of action but in the interpretive sections it can also get a bit disturbing. It might say more about me than the manga depending if that’s what anyone else saw but some of the dark elements get super dark.

The story follows a guy named Killy. (Well that’s how he’s listed online but I could have sworn the spelling was more like K’il but Killy is easier to spell so I’ll just roll with it. Killy is a guy who tends to be super silent all of the time. He doesn’t really say much of anything and appears to be a real enigma. He wants to shut down the city and to do that he has to find someone with the net terminal gene code that is needed to save the world. A lot of crazy stuff happened hundreds of years ago and humanity messed with the A.I. a bit too much. So naturally robots took over the planet and drove the humans to the brink of extinction.

Some of these robots are “Builders” and their goal is to keep on building forever and ever. That is their mission after all so they just continue to do this until the end of time. Naturally this does lead to one big issue which is that the world never ends as a result. For example lets say you are 10 blocks away from the supermarket and then you go to sleep. When you wake up to might be 30 blocks away. Since the city is constantly expanding on all sides, it also means you can easily be separated from your group for a long time.

In some ways the series almost works as an anthology type as well since Killy will meet various people from all sorts of tribes where he will sometimes help them out for a prize. If they have info on what he needs then he will help and likewise if they’re about to die or something. Otherwise his priority is to keep moving. It’s not that he’s heartless or anything but in most cases there isn’t much that can be done for these people. I’m afraid the sad truth is that they’re basically down for the count. The humans are really lucky that the robots take their time and aren’t in full genocide mode or the humans would have been wiped out a very long time ago.

So when it comes to the dark stuff, what am I talking about? Well Killy stumbles into quite a few areas where it looks like the humans are basically being tortured to death for eternity. We see one human (Or more like an android at that point) who seemed to have been converted into some kind of eternal breeding machine. Others have been totally ripped apart, some whose minds have been completely cracked, etc. It’s really not good to be a human here and you have to hope that your mind has long since died. Then of course a lot of really strong stuff happens to the robots as well so you just hope that they don’t have pain receptors.

In a lot of ways you could say that the world of Blame! is like an allegory for hell. All you have to look forward to is an eternity of pain and suffering. There are no wins to be found here or anything like that. Everywhere you go is more and more despair and the closer the heroes get, the more the goalposts are literally shifted away. At this point all they can really do is survive and even that is not particularly fun when there’s not enough food or water to last you for very long.

So here’s my take on the whole situation. It’s based in part on some reveals and then how I interpreted them so in case my theory is right…and it probably is…you should skip the next 2 paragraphs including this one. All right so what seems to be happening here is that the human race was subjugated a long time ago and the whole world was turned into data. What is happening now is a man made version of hell that the robots have stuck humanity into in order to run tests. Killy is one of these robotic administrators and he is using the body of a human type in order to find a way to shut it down.

This is why Killy has a gun that only the machines should have and why his stats are so high. It’s also why it seems to be impossible to actually destroy hm. I think this ties in pretty well and makes sense with some of the dialogue that we get later on. Everything is real to the people who are inside of the City but it’s not the physical world at this point. It’s not the most air tight theory or anything like that but I thought it made sense. It’s a bit harder to explain the angel type robots that show up later on and the other factions but I can still attribute this to there just being a lot of contention on how the world should be developed.

In the end it’s not like the explanation matters all that much though. The whole point is that this is a mission in futility. No mater what Krill does, humanity is not going to win here. He could save people as often as he wants and keep on destroying robots but it is truly endless. There is no meaning to life within the city and he will have to keep going until he dies or runs out of energy. The series takes advantage of his immortality and how things keep going really well.

Some chapters seem to take place across dozens and dozens of years and that’s being conservative. At times Killy acts like he hasn’t seen another person in many years and other times it seems like he’s somewhere that he has been too in the past but before the time of the people still living there. I suppose after a while if you’re immortal you would probably lose track of time as well. Everything starts to become a legend or a mystery. Do you trust your own memories or what people tell you happened back in the day?

There’s just a whole lot to ponder here and the series really goes into a ton of really intense topics even without much dialogue for pretty much the whole series. That’s the most impressive thing about it. I dare say it’s also scarier than most horror films. The fact that you really don’t know how to escape is absolutely terrifying. Like put yourself in the position of any human who isn’t Killy here. At any moment you could be murdered by giant immortal robots. There is no escape since the city is the size of the entire planet and you are only getting older and slower while they do not. Eventually you will be taken down as well and there’s nothing that you can do to fight it.

That has to be extremely terrifying and unnerving. Not having a way to resist your impending doom is crazy. Meanwhile the art is also super good which also adds to how terrifying everything is. The character designs and action scenes are extremely detailed. The fights get rather large so you really feel just how powerful all of the characters arc. Killy and the robots are like terminators and then you keep on getting stronger and stronger versions. Killy can hold his own against almost all of them but even he runs into some difficulties which the top tier ones.

The robot designs are as cool as they are scary too. Some have large capes, cool swords, etc. There’s really a whole lot to love there. The main cast is rather small as most characters are one shots. There are a number of big villains around, some have names and some do not. The most memorable side character is easily Cibo though. She was definitely put through a lot as she was forced to stay alive for many years through a machine but you could say that she was functionally dead for a while there. Killy does end up helping her get a full android body and from there she gets involved in quite a lot of mech fights. I don’t envy her position though, having to pretty much be tuned into a robot in order to keep existing is rough.

Then there is Sanakan who joins up with Killy for a while. A lot happens and lets just say Sanakan doesn’t get to always stick around but it’s another crazy plot point to keep you engaged. When these side characters are around it does allow the series to finally have some dialogue since otherwise Killy would pretty much never talk to anybody. He just doesn’t see the point of doing so which is rather harsh to be sure.

In the end I might start to sound like a broken record about this but Blame! is definitely not a title for the faint of heart. When I say it’s probably the scariest manga out there I definitely mean it. It’s like Terminator on steroids. There isn’t a lot to talk about due to the nature of the series even with a reasonable amount of volumes but I can say that you will still be experiencing a lot here. It can just be tough to translate that into words. You just know that it’s a series you won’t forget. Even the high tier action scenes have a bit of a scary undercurrent to them. Because again, it’s not like you can win. At best you can continue to delay the inevitable by fighting but at some point you will be tired or make a mistake and then that’s it for you.

The whole mission about finding someone with the gene is already a huge long shot. It’s unlikely that anyone with it still exists and the longer Killy searches for this, the more likely it’ll be that all of the people who had the gene are dead. It’s fully possible that his search is already in vain. Then it’s possible that he’s already stuck in an endless time loop as well. I wish there were some big online debates about this series, I’d be eager to read that. I’ll probably have to start looking up some theory videos for the series now that I’ve finished the review on it. I bet there’s tons of great content out there just waiting to be looked at. This manga is really one of a kind.

Overall, Blame! is definitely one of the most interesting manga titles that I’ve read. It’s just so interpretive and yet there is a ton of great world building here. It’s the kind of series where you can probably argue about the meaning of a specific page with other fans for hours. There’s just so much to take away from it. So what you take away from the series will come down to your own opinions and analytics as well. Some scenes that I find super dark you might find standard or scenes that I find to be really hype you might think are disturbing. I will say there is definitely a lot of replay value to the series since you can just allow yourself to be lost in the artwork. This could definitely be turned into a fun anime although I know the studio would be tempted to task it down quite a lot. Throw in dialogue everywhere and simplify the whole thing of course. It’s a little too disturbing at times for me to actively recommend this to a manga reader but if you love horror and twisted stuff then you will definitely have a field day with this one. Just make sure you are prepared to be spooked if you watch this at night!

Overall 5/10

School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei Review

Posted on June 30, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a fairly short series that most people probably don’t even remember all that well at this point. It’s a shame that it ended so quickly because a whole series about debates has so much potential. I’ve been watching tons of debates over the last few months as background noise because it tends to be a lot of fun. Just about anything can be debated after all and aside from picking the position you agree with, it’s also just fun to see what tactics both sides use. There are certainly a lot of little tricks of the trade that debaters can use.

The series starts by introducing us to the world whereby everything is solved through debate. In fact, even schools use this system for whenever the classmates are having some disagreements. It’s a very interesting premise and I’d love to hear more about the world building on this but of course the series is over long before that can really come into play. When a disagreement happens, a prosecutor and defender are brought in, sometimes from another school and sometimes from within. You have to have a certain degree of skill first though so that you can obtain the title to legally make your judgments.

Our main character here is Abaku and he is quite good at debating. He can argue for just about anything but his social skills aren’t really that good. He mainly keeps to himself and can be seen as rather rude. Part of this is that he lived through a very infamous incident that the government has been trying to keep on the hush hush. His whole classroom was murdered with the exception of a few other characters. Nobody knows who the murderer is and Abaku aims to solve that mystery. In the meantime he knows that he has to get stronger though.

Now I will say right out of the gate that while I really love the premise, the series doesn’t really take full advantage of this. I would say part of why it was likely axed so quickly is it started out a little too quiet. I would have leaned in hard with a very solid first case to really get the ball rolling. Instead, the cases mainly take place at school with the other kids so the stakes aren’t always super high. More than one case has a full cop out type ending but even in the ones that do not, it’s not exactly an explosive situation.

By the end of the series you likely won’t care for almost any of the kids who just tend to get in the way and even the teacher for making a lot of poor decisions. Instead of focusing so much time on the kids messing around, this was really the change to introduce the big boss. Even if it was as a silhouette or something like that. Now maybe this series was hoping to be more of a Detective Conan type series where it’s a slow burn but even that famous mystery series did start out with quite a few super important cases involving the black organization. It didn’t just jump in with the slice of life titles right out of the gate.

The art is really solid though. It may not be quite as intense as Death Note but the character designs are on point and we do get some intense moments here and there. Mainly the only issue is that the characters are almost all little kids so there is only so much that you can do to try and make them look tough. It’s not exactly an easy thing to pull off. While the series gets really rushed towards the end, the pacing tends to be fast so you’ll never be bored. Something is always happening although with only 3 volumes that is a pretty small sample set anyway.

Abaku is a good main character. I wouldn’t say that he’s great or anything as he tends to be a little too hands off at times but he’s a solid genius. I don’t mind his being a little rude when he’s trying to save the day. He’s doing his job and that doesn’t include having to make friends with everyone. In a way it probably makes things easier not to have friends since they can really be distractions.

Then you have the rival Pine who also functions as the main heroine. Here’s where I’d say the series dropped the ball a bit. She gets a ton of hype as finally being someone on Abaku’s level but he quickly dispatches her. In fact he tends to dispatch everyone he goes up against rather easily. It’s all too straight forward here and I would have much preferred it if he could have had a real fight here. Lets have him lose to one of the big characters to establish just how difficult the debating world is.

I get that Abaku is a genius but he is still a kid. Giving him a loss or two early on would help to scale the characters. There’s one case where an adult actually shows up to debate Abaku directly. That was great, I was thrilled to see an adult take the stage and take names. Unfortunately, even he doesn’t look amazing once Abaku steps in. The guy does better than most, but this would have been the time to have Abaku suffer a devastating loss. It would have also been a very logical way to do power levels in a title like this with the adults naturally being way more powerful than the average fighter.

Skills aside, Pine is nice enough though. It’s very wholesome that she finally got to make some friends here. Her butler/assistant is definitely on the sad side though. One of those annoying comic relief characters with a very suspect gimmick who really shouldn’t be here. There’s just no point to all of that and another good reason to move on from the kids division so we can have the adults fighting each other.

Then you’ve got Tento who really gets himself into some trouble by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the big cases has him as the accused character and his alibi isn’t the best. The kid is rather helpless the whole time and without Abaku being around things would have been dicey for him. He gets a ton of screen time and development though. Towards the end some of the developments for him are a bit rushed to be sure. I can’t say I ever really cared for the guy.

Kotarou is another big rival character who shows up later and someone who is also mixed up in Abaku’s backstory. The problem? Once again we are told how skilled this guy is and how he’s one of the best but as soon as he fights the lead then he folds. It’s like Abaku just can’t lose any matches. It wouldn’t even be so bad except each time part of the hype is that he’s lost to these guys before but now he’s just too powerful. Giving Kotarou a solid win right out of the gate would have been really good, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

One thing I would have liked seeing the series dive into more would have been the ethics of having to defend someone that you know is guilty. Kotarou for example does a lot of research before taking on a case because he wants to know what’s going on. So that sort of touches on the plot but I wanted something a little deeper. There’s just so much you can really lean into on this front and if the series had done that then maybe it would still be around.

Speaking of plot elements that the series couldn’t go fully into, there’s one mysterious character who is hanging around the whole time. He always acts super mysterious and is in communication with someone. So you know the series is building up to something huge with him but the whole plot ends on a whimper. Yes, we do get to see this guy make a half hearted move towards the end but based on the build up you were expecting something wayyyyyy more massive. Certainly on a completely different level than what we actually got. I generally liked the guy quite a bit but he lost his nerve when it counted which was rough.

School Judgment also got a bit greedy I would say. Based on the premise you would have assumed that the main character and the main heroine would leave the school as soon as their case was completed right? It’s the whole point of being a professional, you go where you are needed and then you are gone. Keeping them here really stunts the growth of the series because we all already know the characters. So now it becomes more of a story of happy adventures rather than meeting a bunch of new characters and getting to have fresh settings. That probably makes it easier on the artist not having to draw new sceneries or characters but for the story it didn’t work so well.

You can definitely tell that the artist was ready for the more intense stories though. The villain always looks so deranged here even when the case ends up not being super huge. When the camera zooms in and you see the demon eyes you know that the main characters are gonna be in a pickle. Unfortunately the series does have some random fanservice mixed in. It’s not a whole lot but it feels very forced into the mix since the characters are all kids here. The series could definitely be a little strange at times which definitely doesn’t do it any favors.

Ultimately School Judgment just needed to stick to its guns more. Give us some more really intense cases outside of the school. Considering how big of a tragedy the murder classroom was, I would expect the rest of the cases to be something similar. The main guy isn’t getting a great amount of practice by beating up on random debaters in such a low risk setting. Yes, some of the cases have some pretty serious allegations to be sure but it’s still not typically life or death. Limiting the series to the school is probably what forced the scenarios in the most. It should have taken place in a court room so there are a variety of cases.

I would definitely love to see another author take a crack at this one but in the real world this time. Just pure debate within the courtroom with both sides making their points. I don’t mind if the judges are still literal babies even if that was super random and out of nowhere. Just allowing for a more broad range of topics would be good. Yeah, it could get dicey if they make any of the cases too intense but I like to think that the series can show some restraint.

Overall, School Judgment had a terrific premise. If it really went into the bloody classroom murder event a little more I think it would have really gripped people’s attention. Instead it decided to go more on the low risk cases for a while to build up the characters. It was a reasonable option but it just took too long and that sealed the deal here. The series feels like a gold mine of wasted potential but at the end of the day it was still a good manga. It does have its share of plot twists and covers a whole lot in 3 volumes. It’s still a title I could certainly recommend to anyone and you can at least see how the premise is really interesting. There just aren’t many series about debating and maybe someday that’ll change. Hopefully some day someone else can try tackling this concept again in a fresh setting.

Overall 6/10

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School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei Review

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