Jaco The Galactic Patrolman Review

Posted on January 18, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time for a recent one shot by Akira Toriyama. I can safely say that it’s more fun than Sand Land even if it isn’t quite up to par with DBZ. One thing that I’ve always liked about Toriyama’s titles is how clear the art is and the plot is also very direct. No beating around the bush here and the DBZ cameos are very much appreciated.

Jaco is a member of the Intergalactic Patrolmen and he is heading to Earth on his spaceship when he crashes past the moon and breaks his ship. He still lands on Earth, but now he has no way of heading back home or contacting his comrades. To start up his ship again, he’ll need a rare metal that is extremely expensive. Since he is a law abiding hero, Jaco can’t steal it. Luckily, he crashes on an island where an old man by the name of Omori resides. Omori agrees to help and a girl named Tights joins the cast as an ally as well. They all must prepare themselves because a powerful alien is quickly approaching, which is the real reason why Jaco is here. Can they defeat such a powerful fighter!?

First of all, it’s great to see the DBZ multiverse getting expanded here. This series takes place at around the beginning of Dragon Ball so you can probably guess who’s in the spaceship headed for Earth. Naturally, this does result in a cop out since the fight that we had been waiting for never gets to happen. The twist was definitely a double edged blade there and I would have loved to have seen a fight scene. I suppose that it’s worth it since we got to see Goku. Bulma and her folks also appear during the story and Bulma’s just a kid at this point. She still shows off the fact that she is a genius and her laser gun is not to be underestimated.

The DBZ references and cameos weren’t overdone. They were pretty much perfect and I wouldn’t have minded more of them. They certainly helped me enjoy the manga more than I would have otherwise. There is even a bonus story at the end about Bardock (Although the volume translates his name in another way I prefer this spelling. This is the true Bardock!) and Goku’s origins. It takes place a little before the OVA as he gets Goku to his spaceship and sends him off before going to confront Frieza and beginning the events of his second OVA. Frieza’s plan definitely seems a little less precise than usual here as he decides to blow up the planet without waiting for the other Saiyans since he felt like it. The author makes sure not to say how many Saiyans were not currently around so they can be used in the future I suppose. It’s interesting to note that the Super Saiyan God mode was mentioned here besides the usual Legendary Super Saiyan. That’s pretty neat since it makes Frieza appear to be in the know. He’ll be popping up in the new film soon and that will definitely be pretty epic. As always, he’s hyped to be Goku’s greatest adversary in this story and it’s easy to see why. There are definitely a lot of narratives for this fight and it’s where Goku finally liberated the Saiyans.

Back to the main story, it’s essentially a comedy. Jaco’s super abilities continue to shock everyone and his lack of knowledge on human culture can put him in a tough spot at times. Some scenes show signs of the old Dragon Ball humor that we hoped to avoid like sea monsters/fish that aren’t very polite and a random chest comment. Those are definitely not the best moments for the series. Luckily, they are few and far apart. Not to mention that the series doesn’t have any real fanservice, which is a big plus.

Omori is the main character and he dislikes all humans. He’s an old man now and he has been trying to build a time machine for a very long time. A traumatic experience where his wife died still haunts him and he wants to change that. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to get it to work and it can only speed up a person’s body so that they can temporarily gain super speed. When Jaco lands on his island, Omori decides to help him so that he can get Jaco out of his hair. As the volume goes on, Omori begins to soften up to the idea of actually having a friend. He’s a pretty likable lead and you can sympathize with him. He’s my favorite character in the series by a longshot.

Tights is the main heroine and she looks pretty similar to the big pop idol who’s going to ride on a rocket as a publicity stunt…intriguing. She believes in the alien story very quickly and she proves to be a very valuable ally to the heroes. She pays for some of the metal and she is the only one who can go shopping in public since the other two quickly become wanted fugitives. She complains a little more often than you would think, but all of the heroes do this a lot. The old man is typically grumpy and Jaco is hyper sensitive so she fits right in. Tights is definitely a pretty likable character and the twist makes her look even more heroic.

Jaco is the alien and his abilities are pretty impressive. It’s hard to tell exactly how strong he is, but Jaco has your basic super strength and speed at his disposal. He can’t fly, but he has jetpacks that are pretty good substitutes. He’s pretty full of himself and he’s actually not a very likable character. Jaco’s heart is in the right place, but he’s way too proud for his own good and he almost fails when it’s hero time. Crashing his ship twice for no real reason is definitely pretty embarrassing as well. I like his design and it will remind you of the androids in the DBZ series. We know that he is a talented warrior so it would be great to actually see him fight. His power level is probably not that impressive since he claims that an adult Saiyan would be stronger than him, but he’s still better than the humans. A normal Saiyan would probably have a power level of 5-10K so his should be somewhere in that range. He also has a weapon that can blow up life on a planet, but it’s specifically calibrated for humans this time so he wouldn’t hurt the Saiyans. It would be fun to see Jaco appear in a DBZ film someday, but mainly so that he can fight. His comedy gimmicks aren’t very funny so I could definitely take a pass on that.

Jaco’s art is pretty great as expected. Few series can really hope to match this artstyle. It’s very simple and yet the designs are all on the mark. The simplicity is probably what helps the fights to be so good since you can really focus on the moves. Most (If not all) of Jaco’s attacks are inspired from DBZ techniques. He uses one of Goku’s kicks and the rest of his attacks can definitely be linked to the legendary series. The energy blasts look as menacing and destructive as in the olden days and the landscapes should feel pretty familiar.

Overall, Jaco The Galactic Patrolman is a title that you will want to read. You’ll get a real nostalgis kick out of reading it. Hardcore DBZ fans definitely can’t pass this up since it expands on Goku’s origins and we get to see that his situation was even more similar to Goku’s than we could have imagined. Finally seeing Goku’s mother is also a pretty big deal. Many fans will be disappointed that it’s a new character and not an established one like Fasha, but that arguably makes things even more epic. Fasha is already a warrior so it’s probably for the best that she’s still on the front lines. If you aren’t a DBZ fan, this can still be pretty fun for you. It’s a lighthearted comedy that stays classy on the whole and it’s easy to read. It’s a fun adventure and it has that 90’s feel that is so hard to forget. It’s just a lot of fun and you may even feel bad that this couldn’t be the next Dragon Ball Z. I’m sure that it would have been great as an ongoing series, especially once the action kicked in. Jaco is one series (One volume series anyway) that you won’t want to miss and hopefully Toriyama can start working on that DBZ sequel manga now.

Overall 7/10

Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Review

Posted on January 15, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to review another mystery series! Muhyo and Roji is a series that I started many years ago and then I finally got to finish it up late last year or extremely early 2015. The final days tend to blend together after a while. The series had an extremely slow start as the episodic mysteries/ghost occurrences took a little longer than expected. It got to be pretty fun during the main arc and then things started to die down towards the end. I wasn’t really sure how I should score the manga, but I’m sure that I’ll know by the end of the review. At the very least, I can safely say that it could be one of the best horror series that I have read.

For some reason I keep thinking of this series as a mystery even though it’s more of a horror. Well, Muhyo and Roji have an office where they field requests from their clients to help out in supernatural matters. Typically, they have to defeat evil spirits who are haunting people or helping nice ghosts to move on. Muhyo is known as a genius and he’s one of the best in the biz while Roji is the opposite. He’s weaker than most rookies when the series starts out and he literally cannot use any spells. That changes as the series goes on, but Muhyo is always the one who does the most fighting. We get a lot of one shot stories and mini arcs until the first big arc occurs.

Enchu was another prodigy, but he turned over to the dark side. He now commands a large army of evil spirits and demons and he wants to use them to destroy the magical academy and everyone. I forgot if he also wants to destroy the world or not, but you get the general idea. Many clerks (Magical exorcists) and trainees will now gather at this school to combat Enchu, but it will be quite the fight. Lots of new characters are introduced for the heroes and villains as the war escalates. This arc takes up most of the series and it’s certainly the best part.

Afterwards, we do get a mini arc with a new villain who is a serious threat. It’s hard to take this puffball (It’s literally a demon who looks like a ball of fluff) seriously though and the ending is rather anticlimactic. After such a big arc, going back to one shot stories and a small final arc is rather dicey. That being said, it appears that the series was cancelled though since it ends with some major loose ends and it’s rather rushed. One of the big villains is hatching his next scheme as the series ends, which could also just hint at a sequel series I suppose. The ending wasn’t great, but it was still better than the average series I suppose. I just wanted some more closure for the villain.

Muhyo is one of the main characters although I would argue that Roji is The main character. Muhyo’s a genius and he tends to be pretty mean to Roji at the beginning. He’s one of those characters who always has a gruff exterior so that nobody can get close to him. Sometimes an author can go a little too far with that, but this series did a good job of keeping it grounded. Muhyo is never too mean to the point where I would consider him to be a bad person as he just insults Roji enough to keep the kid sharp. Their bond definitely strengthens as the series progresses and Muhyo turns out to be a pretty nice guy.

We learn about Muhyo’s backstory as the manga unfolds and he still looks really good there. Suffice to say, Muhyo always has a reason for doing what he does. He never acts without a plan in mind and it’s probably why he is such a good fighter. He seems like he has no compassion for the evil spirits, but his mindgames sometimes do help them to see the light before it is all over. Unlike most Shonen Jump protagonists, he doesn’t have any real physical abilities. He fights using summons, which is a pretty unique way to battle. This is also a weakness since any foe with a decent amount of super speed could probably attack him before he has a chance to bring in any of his stronger foes. Muhyo looks very good from start to finish and he’s surprisingly one of the better Shonen Jump protagonists out there. I wasn’t a huge fan of him during the first few volumes, but it all makes sense once you keep on reading. That is how you use character development to make a character better!

Roji is Muhyo’s partner and he’s a good sidekick. He means well and he always does the problem to improve. You could say that he’s like your average protagonist in that sense, but with a more realistic pace in how he improves. It’s one of those times where the realism factor does not help his character though since it’ll be many years before he ends up being a top fighter. He doesn’t use summons and he can only attack by throwing tags that can hurt the weaker spirits. I’m afraid that this really limits his potential against stronger opponents. He gets depressed pretty quickly, which is definitely another one of his weak points. He’s a likable character, but I wish that he could have gotten stronger so that he could have helped more.

Kenji is technically a supporting character who is typically around the main characters, but I always wondered just what point he had in the series. He never really has any big moments. He does prove useful once or twice of course, but he doesn’t do anything that someone else could have done. It’s nice that Muhyo and Roji have a supporter of course, but he was never my favorite character. He’s better than most little kids though so I’ll give him some props there.

Nana is the main heroine of the series although her screen time isn’t as impressive as most of her counterparts in other Shonen series. She never learns how to fight so she really is just there as a bystander. She’s a good character, but she is unfortunately used as fanservice on more than one occasion. Nana doesn’t really get to add anything to the series and while she is a decent character, it would probably be for the best if she was not here due to how she is used in the story. The series was pretty decent with the fanservice for the most part so that’s too bad.

Of course, most of the blame goes to Yoichi since he is the token pervert of the series. He is easily the worst character in the series. At least, from the characters who appear more than once. There’s a slight chance that there is a one shot character who is worse, but it’s hard to beat Yoichi. He isn’t a great fighter since he doesn’t summon monsters and Roji should pass him pretty quickly. He proves to be pretty traitorous to the end as he doesn’t care about the feelings of the others. You just want this guy to stop appearing since he brings everyone down.

Enchu is the big villain of the series. He used to be one of Muhyo’s best friends before going to the dark side so you can tell that he is very powerful. Emotional villains like this one always manage to make it to the top of the food chain. His motives and goals aren’t great though since he is really just venting from past experiences. He causes a lot of mayhem and destruction so it’s a little hard to just let it go either. Muhyo wants to save him no matter what, but it’ll definitely be a pretty tough task. He’s a very strong villain, but he’s not really a likable one. As a hero he seemed like a pretty nice guy though.

Rio is one figure who had a pretty sad origin story, but one which had an ending that wasn’t as bad as you would have guessed. The school had a pretty bad principle who thought that Rio wasn’t a good teacher and needed to rely on her looks while an old lady had the opposite thought. Rio was torn between honor and money. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong choice and this started her off on the path to the dark side. Her character development is all over the place, but ultimately she just didn’t make the right choices when they counted. She helps out in some of the battles, but she was never a great character. She’s better than Biko, her partner, but I never liked him from the start. He’s just not a fighter and he acts a little too tough considering how weak he is.

Goryo is a rival who appeared in the series, but was quickly surpassed. He believes that money and status are very important and he loves to rub it in Roji’s face. He takes command of Muhyo’s base at one point, which was a low point for the series. Despite his tough front, Goryo is definitely not as strong as Muhyo and his abilities actually aren’t that impressive. His role was a minor one and he didn’t really contribute much to the series, but at least he gave it his all.

Imai is introduced at around the halfway mark of the series I believe. She’s not a great fighter as with Roji, Yoichi, and Biko. That being said, she does carry a gun with her so she has an instant advantage over the others. She is a professional and she’s been at this game for a much longer time than Roji. That doesn’t always help her out in the field, but technically this makes her more of a threat. She doesn’t get a whole lot to do in the series and she never gets a really big fight, but she’s a pretty good supporting character. Imai probably should have been given more development to make her an interesting character, but she was good enough.

Teeki is another one of the big villains and he was totally evil from start to finish. He has a pretty good design and his mask really gives off a horror feel. He’s a pretty intriguing figure who plans things out years in advance. His plans wouldn’t go so smoothly if other villains had not been as gullible, but he probably planned for that as well. He’s a reasonably cool villain. I definitely can’t say that he is a great one, but he is more of a threat than most of the others.

Mick is probably my favorite villain in the game. Finally, we had someone who could fight in close quarters combat with his swords. Mick is not someone that you want to underestimate even if his role isn’t that large in the manga. It’s great to see a human trading blows with giant monsters and it’s safe to say that only plot hax keeps Muhyo and Roji alive when he appears. He’s easily one of the strongest characters in the series and I was an instant fan.

Klaus is the teacher of Muhyo so he’s a pretty capable fighter. We don’t get to see him fight seriously until we’re almost at the end of the Enchu arc. He definitely puts in a lot of effort and his fight scene is pretty great, but I’m not a fan of him as a character. He’s the kind of guy who is constantly keeping secrets from the main characters and his duties as chairman come before his bond to the main characters. If Roji doesn’t pass the test to officially allow him to partner up with Muhyo, he’ll make sure that Roji is kicked out. It’s things like that which make me not like him. He needs to be a more dependable friend.

Many summoned monsters appear throughout the series. Some are certainly more impressive than others. Unfortunately, their designs typically aren’t as unique and memorable as your average Yugioh monster. Muhyo’s main monster is an old one with a 1 or 3 eyes. He’s pretty powerful although he’s not that quick. He’s a very dependable guy to have. Muhyo’s strongest monster helps him during the climax of the Enchu arc and they did a cross fusion of sorts so that he could fight without restraint. By “cross fusing” it means that the summoner gives the monster his life force by merging their energies. The flip side to this is that the caster will die if the monster does. It’s an all of nothing gambit that almost never works, but it dramatically increases one’s abilities. It made for a pretty good battle and Klaus had a great one of his own. Typically, the monsters aren’t very impressive in terms of speed or power, but the high end ones can definitely put on quite a show. Since we don’t really have any human fight scenes aside from Mick, we need the monsters to definitely hold their own.

The monsters have a decent amount of character. Most of the high end ones are either wise sages whose boosts come from their actions of the younger ones who like to brag as they fight. It makes for some pretty good trash talking and the designs for some of them are humanoid enough so that they can really fight. Most of the final monsters also have instant regeneration so taking them down is tough. That’s why the final boss is pretty anticlimactic. It’s a giant sponge or a sponge ball I guess. It doesn’t look that tough even if it is beating the whole cast. I dare say that he is weaker than the final boss of the Enchu arc since Muhyo didn’t need any cross fusion or ultimate tricks to beat him. A simple sentence sufficed and that was probably sad for the fans.

There is some fanservice in the series, which naturally takes a shot at the series. Mostly, it involves Yoichi just being inappropriate or your generic hot springs scene. As always, these scenes are pretty unnecessary and shouldn’t be around. It seems pretty hard for any series to pass up on this, which is regrettable. Just look at classic titles like Beyblade, Kenshin or Yugioh GX to see how you can do a series without this negative addition. That being said, it’s definitely less recurring than most of the other series on the block so that’s a small victory.

The artwork is decent, but I would probably place it under the average Shonen Jump title. I think it’s part of the reason why I wasn’t crazy about the first volumes. It feels really rough around the edges as you’re reading it and I can’t say that it ever got really good. From start to finish, I felt like something was pretty off about the character designs. The monsters looked good, but they could have looked even better. It may have helped for the creepy tone of the manga, but I’ll take streamlined art any day.

The stakes were only high for one part of the series, but that was enough to make the series feel a little more Shonen. One of the reasons why the beginning was lacking was that the characters were not really likable yet so the one shot stories didn’t work. Those work best when you like the characters so seeing them in any situation is fun. Placing the Enchu arc first would have probably done wonders for the series since the one shot stories after that one are better than the beginnings. The series was pretty fun from the Enchu part and that’s one of the main reasons why it ended on a higher note. The series also ditched most of the horror themes from the beginning starting with the Enchu arc. I’m okay with that since it went for action over spooks. The horror part wasn’t bad though as it was pretty cool to see what designs the author could come up with. They typically just weren’t combat designs.

Overall, Muhyo and Roji is a pretty good series. If I allowed half points on the blog, this title would definitely get a 6.5. I don’t think that it’s quite consistently good enough to get a 7, but giving it a 6 seems a little harsh as well. That being said, a 6.5 is not an option so I have a choice to make. I’m going to have to go with the former mainly thanks to the slow start coupled in with the fanservice. The likable characters and fun fights naturally keep it in the positive area though and I was pretty satisfied with the ending. It would have been cool if the series had kept going, but I guess some series have to ultimately end without breaching the 20 volume mark. I recommend this series if you want something that deals with the supernatural and especially if you like monster fights or want a manga series with a horror vibe. In that case, this is definitely your series!

Overall 7/10

Beelzebub Review

Posted on January 1, 2015 by dreager1

Beelzebub was a Shonen Jump series that never reached the level of fame and popularity that Naruto and Bleach received, but it still ran for quite a while and provided us with a lot of action. Like Reborn, Beelzebub starts off as more of a comedy and then quickly turns into the action manga that we had all been waiting for. It has some flaws thanks to the actual plot, but it manages to get past that and actually turns into a pretty great series. At least some of the credit should go to the main character.

The series starts out with some one shot stories before the first big arc arrives. The school is ruled by 4 strong classmates from the shadows. They are the 4 Emperors (Not the title that is used, but close enough) of the school and they each have their own minions/groups who follow them. Oga has been forced to baby sit Beelzebub, the future king of Hell and possibly destroyer of Earth. Oga isn’t thrilled about this since carrying a baby along with hurt his image. So, he decides that he’ll need to find someone who can be Beel’s (The baby) owner instead of him. Beel is attracted to negative energy so he just needs to find someone who’s even meaner than him. (A tougher feat than he imagines) That being said, peaceful negotiations tend to break down so then it’s fight time!

After that, the heroes are barely given a breather before they are taken to another school. Oga has basically accepted his fate of sticking with Beel by now. Unfortunately, his friends are being picked off one by one by the student council of the new school. These guys are apparently great fighters and one of the members is pretty familiar with Oga. Oga had wanted to make it through this new school peacefully until he could go back to his normal place, but he won’t have this. The arc results in a 5 on 5 fight that is pretty awesome! (I love group fights.)

The most popular arc of the series comes around as the demons finally invade Earth. They make their own school and challenge Oga and his friends. They will destroy Earth anyway so the heroes may as well put up a fight. Oga decides that things are getting a little too dangerous so he heads into the enemy base alone. Things also got personal since they kidnapped Hilda, one of Oga’s allies. He’s coming with a vengeance and this arc is where he finally gets his first super form. You can say that this is the arc where the series finished its transition into the ultimate Shonen Jump battle title that we knew it could be.

The final arc is sort of two arcs in one. The heroes return to their school and find out that a lot of new gangs have popped up. Among them, 6 leaders stand out and each one of them seems to be about as strong as Oga. They all want to defeat him to claim their spot as the strongest and they don’t mind targeting his friends to get him to act. (The friends also target the 6 so it evens out. Even if the allies should know that they’re doomed from the start….) This arc is interrupted as Oga decides to go to America to find Beel’s parents and then he eventually goes back home to continue the arc in more of a horror setting.

The series mainly takes place in various schools or in the city, which is definitely fine with me. There aren’t many big manga series that use such a setting for long. Bleach is one of the few that does this, but then we had to go off to Hueco Mundo for a few years, which wasted that opportunity. Beelzebub takes advantage of this local and it’s a fun setting for the fights. We don’t really get much of a city fight until the end of the series, but fighting inside of a building is the next best thing.

From the one shot stories and mini arcs, Beelzebub actually had a few interesting ones. The main one that comes to mind is when Furuichi got powers. He decided that he would challenge all of the characters in the series and it was pretty intense. A certain punching bag gets to fight Furuichi so the comic relief sidekick finally gets some hype of his own. It was good to see Furuichi finally get some props. He may not be a great character, but you never want to see a character be on the losing side for the whole series right? That’d be 20+ volumes of Furuichi getting kicked around. This mini arc managed to give him some wins, which was probably happy for his fanbase. We also had school plays and even a trip into the demon world. All of the stories were typically entertaining unless they were about Beel.

Naturally, Beelzebub is mainly an action series so the tone is pretty light, but it can be rather sad for the side characters. Again, Beelzebub is like Reborn! in the sense that the character power levels are heavily skewed. Oga is the only real powerhouse on the hero side for a while. Kuneida, Tojo, and Hilda are never far behind, but what about their numerous school friends? They never get any real powers ups until the climax of the series so it can be frustrating for them. They get knocked around so many times that you feel bad for them. They used to be the strongest thugs in the city and now they can’t beat the weakest minion from the villains. They try so hard and even go on the verge of tears. It’s great for Oga rage moments, but it does add an emotional touch to the series that it possibly should have avoided.

Back to the rage moments, Beelzebub does do a great job with those. One can argue that it happens a little too often, but I love those scenes so I’m okay with it. You probably know the type since it happens in most anime at this point. Where the main character suddenly get serious and says something that sounds intense as he begins to fight. That happens to Oga constantly as well as to his friends. Rage moments happen in almost every fight alongside a big double spread so that we can see just how intense they are. It gives you the chills while you’re reading it and it’s one of the main reasons why I like Bleach so much. So, this is going to be a mixed bag for many people, but I say “Go for it!”

One of the negatives for the series would have to be the crude humor. This is an issue that is actually rare for manga, or at least Shonen Jump titles. The problem is that the series technically revolves around Beel’s plight as Oga is raising him and that means that a lot of comedy situations will have to happen. Everything is exaggerated with Beel so when he has to relieve himself, he ends up nearly flooding a city. You can imagine how other baby scenarios can go from there. It’s a little too gross for me and I never really like seeing Beel on screen. He’s a character that I couldn’t adapt too and he certainly didn’t help the series. It mostly goes away during action scenes of course, but it’s one of the few negatives of the pre arc. Now it’s time to talk about the characters and there are quite a few in this series.

Oga Tatsumi is a pretty great main character. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of him since the author tried a little too hard to make him a mean character. Yusuke and Ichigo are rebels, but what makes them cool is really the fact that they aren’t afraid to stand up to any villain. They also fight at the first opportunity. Oga is a pretty likable rebel for most of the series, but at the beginning it acts a little too much like a villain at times. Him messing with Furuichi is supposed to be comic relief of course, but he goes a little too far at times. Especially considering that Furuichi just wants to live a peaceful life, but is always forced into dangerous situations because of Oga. So, once Oga learns the values of friendship and mellows out a little more, he quickly becomes one of the best main characters out there.

One of the qualities that I respect the most in a main character is when he/she is willing to help out a friend even if it means breaking the rules. Oga definitely does that and he’ll always come to the rescue when his friends are in danger. (Which is rather often) His super form may not be the most imaginative one out there, but his fights are always fun. His fighting style of using magical seals is very unique and mixing in his extremely heightened physical abilities gives you a very powerful fighter at the ready. It would be hard to make Oga much cooler than he currently is since he’s just so good at this point.

Furuichi is the most recurring character in the series beyond Oga. He is always around no matter how dangerous the situation is. It’s rather sad for him since he is very weak and he never gets much stronger. He gets some magical tissues at one point that let him become a stronger fighter, but then he just gets beaten up by a new villain for shock value. He never wanted any part of this battle life that Oga has centered his life around, but he can’t desert his friend either. There is simply no winning for Furuichi so his tale is typically sad. He also has a sad origin story as well.

It would be easy to feel bad for Furuichi…until he does something bad and then you don’t feel bad for him anymore. He’s the kind of character who is way too into romance so you stop feeling bad for him since he isn’t a good character. It’s too bad since he has many likable moments and he gets quite a few intense moments like Oga. They’re just spoiled because you know that it’s going to go to his head and he’ll revert back to the character that you didn’t want to see. He has his good moments to be sure, but I definitely wouldn’t call him a good character. There is simply too much material to use against him.

Natsume is one of the only friends that I’m mentioning here, but I had too because he is a very odd character. The author never knew what to do with him so he gets a lot of hype at one point and then he basically vanishes for the whole series. He’s supposed to be very tough, but we never get any confirmation of that since he’ll just go and lose to a random figure when he feels like it. He is still a human so we can’t expect too much out of him, but his power level is never that consistent. He doesn’t take most of his fights seriously so it’s also hard to gauge just how good he is. He’s an interesting character, but you’ll probably dislike him by the end since he is just one big missed opportunity.

From the 4 big fighters of the school, Kuneida probably gets the biggest role. You can argue that she is the main heroine or you can make the case that Hilda deserves that title. Either way, Kuneida steadily improves throughout the series and she gets more training scenes than Hilda. She’s a much better character as well, but I suppose that this shouldn’t really sway you on who deserves the title of main heroine. They both get a lot of screen time I suppose. There aren’t any real negatives with Kuneida’s character and I was thrilled to see a sword fighter appear at last. It is sad that she is partnered up with Koma though since Koma is such an awful character. Luckily, she doesn’t have to actually work with him for most of her fights and she learns how to use some abilities while on her own. By the end of the series, she’s probably in the top 5 strongest heroes so that’s pretty impressive considering that she was just a human tier fighter at the beginning of the series.

Tojo is also a great supporting character, but the situation just isn’t in his favor for the most part. The problem is that he’s like Vegeta or any of your average Shonen Jump rivals. He looks great at first and he’s basically an unstoppable antagonist. Then he turns good and the author realizes that the audience will be shocked if he loses to a new villain. So it happens…and it happens…and it happens over and over again. If a new villain is introduced you may as well start counting the chapters until he crushes Tojo. Tojo always enters the fight with a lot of confidence and tough talk, but you know that he’ll end up on the ground. For extra shock value, he is sometimes taken out off screen or without any effort. He is the ultimate punching bag in the series. That being said, I do like him as a character. He temporarily passed Oga at one point in the series and it stayed that way for a brief while until Oga passed him again. He’s a likable character and he’s nice to animals, which is a huge plus. Unlike most of the other heroes, Tojo was always a good guy. He likes to get into fights, but it’s within reason and he’s a pretty upstanding citizen otherwise.

Himekawa is easily my least favorite member of the opening 4 bosses and he is just hard to like. I was almost warming up to him at one point. Not that he would ever become one of the most likable characters in the series, but I didn’t mind him as an ally. It all fell apart when he pulled a Rossiu on us and decided to wreck everything. We got a twist about that of course, but Oga had to take a lot of extra damage thanks to Himekawa’s rash actions. I couldn’t just let that slide and Himekawa had one of the biggest drops imaginable for an anime character. He was decent and now I consider him to be a downright terrible character. I couldn’t wait for him to get written out of the series.

Kanzaki is the first boss from the series and he must have been pretty popular since he gets to appear a whole lot after that. He’s your average bully who is actually a nice guy deep down and he loves to pamper his little sister. He’s not a bad character per say, but he is pretty generic and he rarely gets to win a battle. He just doesn’t add anything to the story, but his final form was pretty cool for his fans. Things definitely may have gotten dicey for him otherwise. He’s a loyal ally and a good friend to have, but he could have used some more character development or maybe just an epic fight. Seeing him jump into the school with a baseball bat was cool, but we knew how it would all end up. (It was a very frustrating scene though) That was the fate of his character.

It’s time to look at one of the characters who got hit the hardest by Beelzebub’s sudden ending. That would be Ichikawa. He was one of the 4 big characters from one of the final arcs and he got a lot of hype. He was going to be one of the strongest characters out there in theory, but then he went and got pummeled off screen. So much for his tough talk right? It’s too bad since he was a very interesting character and I wanted to see him get a few fights. He was likable in his few pages, but he just got the short end of the stick. We ended the series without really knowing much about him.

The same can be said about Akahoshi, but to a smaller extent. Thanks to a few filler chapters, we definitely know a lot more about him than Ichikawa. He was also a pretty fun character and I would go as far as to say that Akahoshi is probably one of the best characters in the series. He is main character material and it’s probably no coincidence that he looks very similar to Oga. It’s still a mystery as to why he’s so powerful since I didn’t totally buy the explanation, but he doesn’t get to finish his character arc. He came closer than Ichikawa though so I’m glad about that. He’s a lot nicer than Oga, but he’s still the leader of a gang so you should not underestimate this guy.

Hojo is probably the worst member of the 6 big fighters in that arc, but that also meant that she got to totally have her arc completed. She’s the weakest member of the group and you don’t really need any demonic abilities to take her down. She’s not completely weak though as she still gave Kuneida a decent fight, but she doesn’t strike fear into you the same way that the others could. She just felt out of her depths here and her goals of stopping Kuneida and the Red Tails just felt a lot more petty. If not for Beel pulling his tricks, her arc would have been a whole lot shorter.

Nasu is pretty crazy and he gives Oga a pretty good fight when they meet. He’s not one of the big 6 so his powers still aren’t extreme, but that just makes his battles that much more impressive. He beats up on the side characters for a while before getting to Oga, but he’s seriously bad news for most of the heroes. I don’t care for him personally, but his fights are pretty fun to watch. There aren’t many people who fight with their head smashed through a wall for the entire battle. (Hard to describe, but picture someone being rammed through a door and taking the door with them. Then imagine that person continuing to fight while the door is around their neck. It’s pretty surreal)

Takamiya may not be the final boss of the series, but he is certainly the most impressive fighter since he gets a lot of screen time. He really beats up on Oga and his allies even if there are some special circumstances at one point. He may be one of the strongest figures out there, but I definitely do not like him as a character. It helps that I didn’t care to see him beat up on Furuichi for so long since the hero couldn’t fight back. Takamiya is pretty sadistic and that’s why I didn’t care for how his character ending went. I know that Shonen Jump is about forgiving and forgetting, but it shouldn’t happen to instantly. I would have liked to see Takamiya go to jail for a few years to cool off. He definitely deserved that after everything that he did. His character design reminds me of Mukuro’s and it’s interesting since it’s not what you would expect from a street brawler. Likable or not, Takamiya definitely provides us with some great fights.

Fuji is the final boss of the series and he certainly lives up to the hype. His abilities are possibly a little too exaggerated since he’s been lounging around at home for the last few years instead of training. Having a demon to partner up with definitely gives you some added abilities, but the boost was way too big if you ask me. Well, ignoring that, he’s still a pretty good character. He’s pretty insane and he’s evil as opposed to most of the other guys who are simply “misunderstood.” Seeing him take on the entire cast is also a pretty great feat and he’s fun to fight. He has almost no development though so he’s just an opponent to face, but I suppose that this is fitting for the final boss. His abilities are no joke and he probably has the coolest super form from all of the villains. He’s probably my favorite villain now that I think about it.

Izuma is another hype character who appeared in the school challenge arc and you have to wonder what happened to him. There was a time where it seemed like he might have gotten a role in the current arc to help against the demons along with Tojo, but then he just took a backseat and decided to watch. He still got a decent role in the school battles of course, but stalemating Tojo isn’t the feat that it used to be. Since Oga already had a rival, this guy was basically not given the chance to prove himself. He’s definitely a decent villain though, but he seems unaware of just how badly he has been corrupted. He is sticking up for bullies after all so he should consider who the real villains are since he claims to be a hero. Still, he is interesting, which is good enough.

Miki is Oga’s rival and he knew the main character from their early days. Things happened and they grew apart, which made Miki decide that he wanted to beat up/destroy Oga. I can’t say that I agreed with Miki’s reasoning since it was pretty obvious why Oga did what he did during their origin. Even if Oga had been sincere, destroying him is going way too far. I can sympathize with Miki wanting to defeat him in combat. I’m totally all right with that, but he’s constantly going for the permanent solution so I can’t see him as anything other than a villain. It is impressive to see just how strong he got through his training though. It’s just too bad that he becomes irrelevant as soon as the real villains show up. He had a good roll until then though.

Saotome is a mysterious teacher who shows up at one point to help Oga train and he’s very powerful. You just wonder how he got to be so good and his backstory is never fleshed out. It’s cool to have a mentor figure of course, but he just pops up out of the blue and then he vanishes once things get serious. He does have a few good smirmishes with the villains though, but I would have liked to have seen him fight seriously at least once. That being said, he is significantly better than other mentors like Jiraiya and Master Roshi. At least you can take this guy seriously.

Beel appears about as much as Oga so it’s too bad that he’s completely unlikable. Just like how I don’t care for kids being main characters in live action films, I don’t care for babies being protagonists in manga. Beel is really just here for crude humor, which is too bad. He also puts Oga in a lot of tricky and/or embarrassing spots thanks to his actions. Beel gets a lot of hype for being immensely powerful, but we never get to see that since he is always just powering up his partner. That’s one way to show off a character’s strength I suppose, but it’s simply not a great way to do it. I don’t think that Beel had a single cool scene in the entire series and it would have been better off without him. He’s certainly one of the worst characters in the series. It’s definitely rare for a series with a pretty bad concept to actually become a legendary title, but Beelzebub pulled it off so Beel couldn’t really hold it back for long.

En is related to Beel and he’s just as annoying. He’s a little older so he’s more of a kid than a baby, but he’s very spoiled and his mini arcs are never that much fun. He’s not very good at video games and he’s just mean to everyone. He doesn’t mind blowing up the Earth so I think it’s fair to say that he’s a villain. There’s not a whole lot to say about him because he never gets to fight in the series, but he’s simply not my kind of villain. He’s certainly not loyal to his allies so he’s not even a respectable villain.

We can’t forget about Beel’s parents. They get a surprisingly small role in the series, but they are still around nonetheless. The Demon Lord is said to be extremely powerful, but he never gets to fight. He’s actually used for comic relief as he has a terrible memory and he’s always playing video games. He also seems to have the mentality of a little child as he sulks a lot and holds grudges when he feels like it. It’s easy to see why other demons keep planning to overthrow him since he does a lousy job of upholding law and order. I think it’s safe to say that the villains would have easily succeeded in their plans if not for Oga. The Demon Lord is just too oblivious to everything.

I can’t say that Iris is much better. She seems to be a lot more reasonable of course and things are pretty sad for her since she can’t walk. That being said, she is basically being played for her entire on screen appearance. She doesn’t even realize what is happening even though it is only thinly veiled. She also did leave Beel for basically the whole series so I really can’t sympathize with her actions. It doesn’t help that this was during the rushed part of the series. Maybe she could have been a better character with more time…maybe.

Athrun is a character who never got to appear much and the author may have forgotten about him. He is pretty powerful and he was much stronger than Oga at one point. It’s safe to say that Oga has surpassed him by now, but it would have been cool to have seen them fight. He’s the cool and calm collected character that you expect to see in a series at some point. He’s a swordsman, which makes him even cooler for me. He should have gotten more screen time! Johan is another intriguing character that I would have liked to have seen more of from the final part of the series. He’s pretty intense and he’s definitely a good agent since he can ride a motorcycle with ease while shooting at Oga. He may be a body guard, but he can hold his own with the best fighters out there. He is also pretty smart and he was one of the guys who tricked Iris for so long.

Alaindelon gives Beel some competition as one of the most annoying characters in the series. He’s always trying to be friends with Furuichi and most of his lines are purposefully suggestive. He acts gay throughout the series and it’s meant to be funny, but is just isn’t. He doesn’t contribute to the series at all even though he is always around and I don’t know how he ever got picked to be one of Beel’s bodyguards. He simply doesn’t help the heroes when it’s crunch time and it’s too bad that he was in the series at all.

Hilda is one of the main characters and she’s pretty decent. Unfortunately, she talks tough for all of her appearances, but she doesn’t get many fighters where she can really show off her skills. She is very tough since she was picked to guard Beel, but her power level is not very consistent. She’s definitely a very likable character though. She gets two personalities as she is usually in her normal one and she acts differently when she temporarily loses her memory. Both forms are pretty good although her normal personality is definitely the best one. She never backs down from a fight and she’s determined to protect Beel at any cost. She should have struggled a little more to stop herself from being kidnapped, but that’s a minor gripe. Through and through, Hilda is a very good character.

Yolda is Hilda’s rival and she’s a character who also could have used some more development. She seems like a nice character deep down even if she typically acts like an antagonist. She’s usually comic relief aside from her first appearances and while she is a decent fighter, Yolda is quickly surpassed by just about everyone after her initial fight or two. I think her character did have a lot of potential though and she is pretty likable. Certainly one of the better villains even if her boss is pretty cheap.

Lamia is the nurse from the demon world and she is good at her job, but she’s not a great character. She becomes friends with Furuichi, which is cool for him since he doesn’t have many friends. That being said, she can’t fight, which really limits her potential in this kind of series. She can heal their wounds, but that’s not the best role to have. She is also used a lot of comedy situations with Furuichi, which is not the greatest fate either.

Behemoth is an old demon who apparently was one of the strongest fighters back in the day. Unfortunately, we never get to see this so he’s a character who literally has to live off of hype. He’s still pretty strong of course, but it’s apparently only a glimpse into how he looked back in the day. He’s decent for an old fighter, but I just can’t take him seriously. I have nothing against the hype…but he needs to prove himself a little more. He just goes along with the villains and he doesn’t even get a say. Not exactly leader material!

Jabberwock is the big villain from the demon arc and he’s definitely intense. I’d say that he’s one of the better villains even if he’s not all that interesting. The series never gave him a whole lot of character development so he fell by the wayside. His abilities are good though. He’s pretty stuck up, but that makes it all the more satisfying when Oga takes him down. His design is pretty fitting for his character and he was a good villain. Jabberwock is honorable, which is more than I can say for a lot of the other villains.

The art is pretty good for the series and I definitely have no qualms there. The author uses a little too much ink with the demon attacks at times, but it also helps to show us just how powerful the attacks are. Most of the characters have pretty unique character designs, which help the characters to stay memorable. Naturally, this also helps the fight scenes since a good action moment needs great art if it wants to survive. The series also manages to pull off a pair of horror themed chapters towards the end where Oga enters the ghost town that used to be his home. It’s pretty intense since the tone shift was so dramatic, yet the art was able to keep up.

Whether a fight is occurring or not, Beelzebub is always fun to read. I’d compare it to Medaka Box in the sense that it is a fun ride from start to finish. There are no boring volumes and very few chapters that won’t entertain you either. Even the filler moments like Furuichi gaining magical powers are pretty fun as well. There are some serious moments thrown in for good measure, but the series never loses sight of what it is. An upbeat fighting manga that will always leave you feeling content with it.

One angle that I didn’t really discuss was the fanservice part. It’s not there a whole lot, but it is present thanks to Koma and Furuichi. Just about every scene in question that is in the series has something to do with them. Koma is the stereotypical pervert of the series while Furuichi falls into that category as well, but he typically tries to be more subtle. It’s still too bad since this is just a cheap trick that most series use at some point or another for quick views. It could have been worse, but what we did get still shouldn’t have been there. I’m still waiting for more series to take a look at Prince of Tennis so they can see how you do a series without any fanservice whatsoever. That series is still a shining example for all to see.

It should be noted that the series does end rather abruptly and it’s not very subtle either. The author handled it with as much pizzazz as he could, but there are still quite a few plot lines that are not wrapped up. An arc starts and then it quickly shifts to another arc before anything had really gotten to happen. When we go back to the previous arc to end the series, we find out that most of the battles already happened off screen. Naturally, this means that we also get a quick power up with a worse explanation than Ichigo’s big showdown at the end of the X Cution Arc. The situation is rather similar as it involves a rooftop battle and a lot of flashy abilities. I do love Oga’s final form so don’t get me wrong, but it definitely came out of nowhere. It did give us some great DBZ references though so I’ll let it slide. The series almost deserves an extra star for the way that it wrapped things up. The final fight was definitely DBZ level and it’s safe to say that Fuji and Oga could definitely hold their own against any fighter. They won’t be beating Goku of course, but their abilities could give most arc 1 guys a run for their money like Frieza or SSJ1 Goku. If you thought that Gintama was the only main character who could steal abilities…just wait. If a series being cancelled means that the author can go all out with super forms and powers, I wonder what Kubo would do for Ichigo in that case. The possibilities are endless!

How do the characters rank tier wise? Well, they’re nowhere near DBZ level (Except for the final fight) and I don’t see these guys taking down Tsuna, but then things get interesting from there. As I mentioned, there are some really powerful fighters, but the majority of the characters would lose to Naruto’s team from part one of the series. I think that Oga and the generals could probably hold their own against most One Piece/Naruto characters, but they would start to hit some trouble over in Bleach. I would consider the series as a whole to be A rank. I think that they could give Bleach a very good fight and they may have been able to win if not for the serious disadvantage in numbers. Beelzebub against Reborn! would be an incredible fight and I think Beelzebub may have the edge. Tsuna is certainly stronger than Oga, but his supporting cast is even weaker than Oga’s. It’s definitely a tough call, but reaching A-S rank is a pretty great feat!

Overall, Beelzebub is a pretty great Shonen Jump series. It has a lot of action and cool characters so that’s really all that you could want in such a series. Naturally, there is some mild fanservice to be found here once in a while, but it’s very rare and this series has less of it than Bleach and possibly even Naruto. The main thing that would have helped the series would have been if Beel had not been in it. I think it’s safe to say that the series could have easily reached a 9 with that. Even if the series kept Beel, then maybe getting rid of all the crude humor would have had the same effect. This series rivals Bleach in the number of “epic zoom in” scenes, which is very impressive. I highly recommend this to all manga readers and try not to enjoy the humor filled beginning toooooo much since the series jumps onto the action train pretty quickly.

Overall 8/10

Bakuman Review

Posted on December 27, 2014 by dreager1

Bakuman is a very unique Shonen Jump manga that decided to try and get some success without the typical action formula. There are no real fight scenes so would this really work out? Well, it manages to be very interesting like Death Note was and the continuity is very important here. I can safely say that it was much better than I had expected and it shows that Shonen Jump can succeed in any format!

Mashiro and Takagi are the main characters of this story. Mashiro had always liked drawing ever since he was a kid and Takagi enjoyed writing stories. One day, Takagi asked Mashiro if he would like to partner up to create a manga and that’s when the whole thing really started. They have to move up the Shonen Jump ranks if they want to catch up to famous authors like Kishimoto and Kubo. Along the way they meet many other aspiring authors and friends. They go through several editors although one of them ends up staying longer than the rest. They even get a rival in the form of Eiji. It’ll be a tough road, but these guys can hold their own!

Mashiro may technically share the lead role with Takagi in the series, but I’d say that he is definitely the true main character here. A large part of the plot is the fact that he proposed to Miho at the beginning of the series and they promised not to speak with each other again until Mashiro drew a hit series that got an anime and Miho got to be the voice actress for the main heroine. A rather lofty goal, but one that they decided to stick too. Naturally, this is an impossible deal that is broken several times, but they try to keep to this throughout the series and it’s a good subplot.

Mashiro is very determined and he can be pretty stubborn once he has made up his mind. He’ll never be the guy to crack first and he’ll hold his ground to the bitter end. His uncle died from overworking himself and it’s a trait that Mashiro shares with him. He ends up working on manga well past his limits and it comes back to hit him several times. He’s a pretty solid lead although he’s not nearly as good as the average Shonen Protagonist. To an extent, he’s meant to act as the reader. So, he has some personality to keep him interesting, but not too much so that you can still put yourself in the manga instead of him. He’s basically just your average joe who wants to succeed. He’s likable though and that’s what counts.

Takagi is more reasonable than Mashiro on most things. He never overworks himself, although he certainly takes his job seriously. He trusts Mashiro’s opinion when it comes to anything manga related and he’ll keep on creating new stories until he makes one that has Mashiro’s approval. He’s the guy who initiated the team up and you can tell that he is definitely more confident in his movements. Mashiro was rather timid at first and he was still known as a pretty quiet person til the very end. (Although he certainly got braver) Takagi was brave from the start although he didn’t gain rivals quite as quickly. He “cracks” a little more often than Mashiro when the pressure starts to get to him and I do think that he probably has the tougher job since he has to come up with a new story each week, but both are certainly difficult. Mashiro just does a better job of handling the pressure and I do think that he is a better character than Takagi.

Eiji is the big rival of the series and he certainly gets a lot of screen time. He’s basically untouchable though since his series manages to outlast just about every other one and it surpasses Naruto and Bleach at one point. Naturally, those two aren’t mentioned by name, but Crow managed to be in 1st place for over 10 weeks straight so you know what that means. I don’t blame the readers either since Crow sounded pretty awesome. Eiji is a fun rival even if his personality does a 180 sometimes. For no reason he’ll just become antagonistic before reverting to his cheerful self once again. It seems to just be a quirk of the author’s here though as characters tend to act a little out of character when it’s not from their point of view. He’s still one of the better characters in the series.

Miho’s the main heroine of the series and she doesn’t get as much screen time as most of the main characters, but she’s always around. The main reason for her lack of screen time during some of the sections is due to the fact that she is keeping up her end of the bargain to not see Mashiro until their goals have been met. She quickly rises up through the ranks of the voice actress ranks so that she can be ready when the anime has arrived. She’s a good character, but not quite as interesting as most main heroines. She’s very polite and also pretty quiet like Mashiro so this unfortunately means that we don’t get a lot of tough lines from her. A “Watch me win this role” 2 months in advance would have been an awesome line to really get the shonen blood going, but it was not to be. So, she’s a good character, but she could have been better.

Kaya is another one of the big characters and she serves as the other main heroine since she’s with Takagi. Unlike Miho and Mashiro, they get together pretty early on in the series. Kaya helps the team out with art and other duties when the heroes are in a pinch, but she usually just tries to remind them that they should have a life beyond just working on manga. Time usually flies by for them so they can basically go a whole day just working after all. She’s pretty nice and she helps to keep the heroes together. She doesn’t have a lot of misunderstandings with Takagi unlike the other pair so that’s pretty good.

Fukuda is a character that I could never really like. He’s decent to be sure, but he’s one of the rivals to the main characters and he just never seemed that talented. His stories had some good concepts, but he could never execute them and the art simply wasn’t there. He talked really big and he got a big following on his motorcycle series, but I can’t really say much for him beyond that. He was probably the most vocal member of the team from the main characters, but he was never really a threat and he eventually just became an ally for the heroes.

Nakai is one of the worst characters in the series and he goes from being a decent character to being downright antagonistic. By the end of the series he has lost all of his morals and he’ll stoop down to just about any level. I definitely grew tired of his plot and I would just wait for him to go away only to see his character return. The author makes sure that you will dislike him so don’t expect any redeemable qualities from the guy.

Aoki almost feels out of place amidst the other authors because she is not loud and determined like the others. She feels more like royalty and she’s very cautious in all of her moves. She simply very polite and she wants to make a nice manga without cheap Shonen tricks like fanservice and action every other chapter. I disagree with the latter, but I’m glad that she avoided the former. Unfortunately, the series does send a pretty sad message since she is eventually forced to throw those into her story. That was pretty sad and I wished that she could have held her ground a little more. She’s definitely a nice character, but maybe just a little too perfect. Considering that everyone is basically in one large drama, she doesn’t really add to it like the others. That’s why she should have defied the authors, it would have given her a pretty cool subplot.

Hiramaru is one of the more desperate members of the main authors since he doesn’t even like drawing manga. He used to be a professional at something and he was making a lot of money, but he thought that manga writing would be easy to he decided to focus on that. Turns out that he was wrong, but his editor manages to keep him around by promising to get him a connection with a lady at some point. Hiramaru falls for this trick for most of the series and eventually his character arc comes to a close. I don’t agree with him teaming up with Nakai towards the end though and I think that this was definitely a bit much. Nobody should have to work with Nakai after all of the things that he has done. Hiramaru has his charm, but he’s still not one of the better characters.

Iwase was a pretty good novel writer who wondered why Takagi would sacrifice his great grades and writing abilities to join the manga world. She was so interested that she decided to get involved as well and she quickly became a rival of his. She’s also a story writer so she needed to find someone to do the art and the situation intensified when Eiji volunteered to help. In the end, Aoki proved to be more talented at writing novels since manga typically use less text per page, but she held her own for quite a while. She’s pretty proud and believes herself to be above such things and that’s one of the reasons why I would say that she was one of the more interesting members of the group. She eventually learns the value of being a manga writer or course.

Nanamine is probably the only villain in the series. Nakai may as well be one, but this guy makes it clear that he is on the side of injustice from the get go. He comes complete with his own sob story about how he used to be a fan of the main characters. Now he believes that the end justifies the means so he comes with a pair of tricky strategies in order to guarantee his success. They are pretty ingenius methods, but at least one of them is not practical unless you are already rich…and it just so happens that Nanamine is rich so it works out. As a character Nanamine definitely isn’t great, but I was glad that he came around. It brought the Shonen Jump effect on the series to a whole new level and we got some pretty cool cliffhangers out of the whole thing.

Hattori is the main editor for the two main characters and he’s pretty good. He can be a little annoying at times though as he is very cryptic with his advice and he tends to panic a lot. Every series has “that” character who panics about how strong the villains are and tells the heroes that they should quit while they’re ahead. (Brock, Krillin, Chopper, etc) Whenever a new character shows him the manga that they are working on, he makes an incredibly exaggerated face (That is recycled a lot) and he mentions how it may be impossible to top this work. He sticks up for the main characters sometimes, which is pretty good, but he’s certainly not one of my favorite characters in the series. If it helps, I’d say that he’s probably the best editor in the series, although the editor in chief is cooler than him.

The art looks very good throughout the series. The artist has to be able to switch his artwork several times as he showcases very different series from the authors/artists within the series so that definitely takes a lot of skill. The artist is definitely experienced and my only complaint with the art would be that a lot of the characters use the exact same expressions from time to time. It may not be very evident if you were reading this series on a weekly basis, but I basically marathoned through the entire series so I would even read 2-3 volumes a day at one point. At that quick pace, you tend to notice things like this a lot easier. The face expression that I never liked was when the editor’s nostrils would turn huge and steam would come out as he exclaimed how good a series was. It’s a little exaggerated and it makes him look bad since he says that about almost every big series. A random newcomer who turned evil made a series about wrestling and he had that reaction. I can understand him reacting that way for an Eiji or Mashiro story, but that should be the extent of it. For the most part, all of the other characters suffer from this as well and I think that it may just be one of the weak points of such a story. Since the main characters are in a pretty similar setting in similar circumstances many times, it makes sense that it would be harder for the artist to resist using such a tactic. Nevertheless, the overall art is pretty solid.

This is the kind of series that you would certainly expect to get a 7 or less, but it was just too interesting to deny it an 8. Whenever there would be a new batch of manga for me to read, this one got top priority. The only series that I would choose over it at the time would have been Soul Eater and Kenshin. Beyond that, Bakuman was the series that I was most eager to read. It’s a real page turner and that’s mainly because of the big cast and all of the subplots that are going on. It takes the typical Shonen routes and throws some drama in there and there is certainly a lot of tension because of the deadlines and the fact that only a certain amount of series can run in the magazine at once. No matter how you look at it, that means that some of the main characters will have to take a loss at some points when their series is cancelled.

The series does unfortunately have some fanservice in it. Typically it doesn’t have anything to do with life outside of the manga, but some authors believe that you should add it into the series and there is the whole subplot about having Aoki add it into her series. It’s a sad running gag that the guys naturally enjoy seeing those kind of scenes as well, which doesn’t help their case. There are also two perverted characters in the series whose every line is just cringe worthy and it makes you wish that they were not there. Luckily, one of them does get punched…maybe both of them. That was pretty fun and satisfying. So, the discussions can be a little much at times and it’s never enjoyable when they’re talking about things like that. It doesn’t happen all that often at least.

The series certainly has a lot of romance since it is like a drama during a lot of the volumes and many pairings happen. Miho and Mashiro’s is probably the best one since they decide that they won’t even talk until their goals are met. Now, that’s a safe and happy relationship if I ever saw one. Naturally, they break down and allow texts to be sent to each other during the series and by the end they are willing to phone each other, but they stay true to their goals. For the others, nothing unnecessary happens so I’ll give credit to the manga for that. The romance is handled a whole lot better than most other series.

One of the fun parts about the series is getting to see the various series that the authors are writing. It’s cool to see the actual manga artist adapt his style so many times to see what they are like. The best series that we get to see is probably Crow since it’s your average Shonen filled with a lot of fights and cool characters. The main characters created several series, but their best one was definitely the one that they closed out with. Reversi was its name and it was a mix of D.N. Angel and Deathnote. It had a pretty cool concept and the ending was certainly intense. Their other two big series were PCP and Detective Trap. Both of them were mysteries while Detective Trap was played seriously and PCP was basically a kudomo in disguise. Both of them sounded good, but not quite as good as Reversi.

Their rivals naturally had others, but they weren’t quite as good. We had +Natural…which sounded really boring and I have no idea how it lasted so long. There was a Beaver series and it was basically a comedy that I also thought should have been doomed. The Classroom of Truth was a great series and it’s one that they should totally make in real life. The concept is incredible and it could really have a bright future. Road Racer Giri also sounded fun as a racing series, but it was lacking something. Many more series also get to appear throughout the manga so it’s fun to keep an eye out on those.

The series is very heavy on continuity, which is fun since you get to age alongside the characters. Several years pass as you go through the volumes and they make sure to let you know where some of the series rank just about every week. Keep in mind that we are supposed to believe that Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are around even if we have to stretch our imaginations a little to actually believe that they would lose to these titles…consistently. They lost just about every week, which is kind of sad for them. The series may have been better off just ignoring those titles, but I guess this series is also meant to be pretty informative about how to write a manga so they wanted to keep it in.

It’s one of those series where you just need to read it to fully capture the size and scope of it all. The plot is pretty linear and it always continues from the last point, which is why it’s impossible to mention all of the plot lines. They just keep going and going as they transition into other things. There are also a lot of other characters who come and go during the series. Many of them are forgettable while some of the others can be fun like the other editors. They definitely get competitive with the series. Bakuman is very realistic so just about all of the characters can be annoying from time to time as they try to downplay some series and upvote others with some personal bias, but that just makes the whole thing more exciting.

Overall, Bakuman is a pretty great series. As I mentioned, it will naturally not be as exciting the second time around since that is a weakness for series that don’t contain action, but the first time is good enough. It’s a series that will make you want to keep reading from start to finish and most of the characters are likable. I do think that they reuse too many expressions throughout the series, but I guess it’s tough to not do that when you’ve got a series like this one. I recommend checking out the series because it is not as dull as it may sound. (Although I love these kinds of plots myself) This is still Shonen Jump after all so you can typically expect a high quality piece from them.

Overall 8/10

Smash Bomber Review

Posted on December 24, 2014 by dreager1

Smash Bomber is a series that I had not heard about until about 10-20 minutes ago. I quickly checked out the 3 chapters and I have to say that I can see why it was canceled. The actual concept is great and this could have been the next toyetic elite, but the author made some interesting choices that just didn’t go over well. Add in the under average art and you don’t have the next Megaman NT Warrior. Well, let’s see how it went.

Keep in mind that there were only three chapters and the page count was less than 60 overall. So, this is about half as long as the average manga volume or even less than that. Well, it is the future and a new game has captured the hearts and minds of kids. It’s called Smash Bomber and the rules are almost identical to that of Beyblade’s. You have to essentially use your disc to hit the opponent’s discs out of the arena. It takes skill and tricks, but the big change is that you use your physical abilities to amp up your moves. Like jumping off of a sky scraper or something like that. Each fighters starts out with 5 discs so you have to think strategically about how you want to win.

The main character goes by the name of Binta. He wants to be the greatest Smash Bomber who ever lived. Unfortunately, his friend thinks that this is an unreasonable goal and so does everyone that he comes into contact with. I can understand since Binta is apparently not even that good, but it’s still sad for the kid. He duels Banji, the leader of the bullies at school and then they learn of an evil plot led by BJ. These guys are stealing people’s discs after they humiliate them in duels. Binta won’t stand for this and he quickly decides to team up with Banji’s group to put a stop to this. Will they be able too?

I do have to give the series credit for the fact that it actually manages to end things without a cliffhanger even though there were only three chapters to be found. That takes a lot of effort on the author’s part and he’s probably glad that he hadn’t started adding many characters in yet. Some of them certainly get the shaft thanks to the quick ending, but at least they got to show just how strong they could be. One panel fights can still be impressive…..right?

So, Binta seems to be a decent main character. Naturally, he is super generic though and I can’t say that I’m overly impressed with his skills. He gets a “hardcore” moment after his big training montage, but it’s hard to really feel like he earns one. He can’t have improved all that much in a few hours. I also think that he should have quickly walked away from the training at the first opportunity so that certainly did not help his case either. He’s not a bad main character, but he’s not exactly the next Kaz Gordan!

Banji is the Dex of the series. He’s a bully who quickly turns out to be a nice guy after chapter 1. He’s supposed to be very tough, but he lost to Binta in chapter one so consider me unimpressed. I definitely don’t care for him and he almost put a whole building out of business just so that he could train some more. He has an emotional moment during his duel that is supposed to win you over. Let’s just say that it didn’t really work.

BJ is the main villain of the series and he’s mean to the bone. He wants to duel with the highest possible stakes, but the problem is that the stakes are actually pretty small during the duel. Nevertheless, he decides that he will take his own life if he loses the duel. This causes some tension with the main character. After all…can Binta really try to win this duel if he knows that it will be all over for BJ? BJ’s design is pretty cool and he’s a tough villain. He’s very one dimensional, but you can only do so much in three chapters right? He’s definitely the best character in the series so I’ll give him some props there.

Chie is the main heroine and she’s certainly not passionate about Smash Bomber. She wants Binta to give up on the “silly sport” so that he can become a real person like the others. She must not have heard that everyone in the world loves Smash Bomber, but that’s just the way that it goes I suppose. At least the author finally decided that having everyone’s name start with a b would get old after a while so he went for the next letter. She has her big friendship moment during the last chapter, but she still felt a little overly hostile towards Binta. He has discs to save after all!

The art is pretty sketchy here I’m afraid. It’s very rough around the edges and even the Beyblade manga started out on a higher level in this category. The actual designs are good, but it’s almost impossible to see what is happening. I only grasped the rules once the third chapter had started and even then I have a feeling that there is more than meets the eye. The way that they hit the discs just seems strange. I think the characters throw the disc at the other discs or maybe they just make contact with their staff or body. It’s very interesting and the series definitely could have gone more in depth with it. Binta gets mad at BJ for putting all of his pieces together, but why should he be. It’s like camping or projectile spamming…they’re totally legitimate….

Now, why is this series a 5 instead of a 7? The main reason is the second chapter. To improve their skills, the heroes head to a local bathing house and learn that training requires serious business. They mean that literally btw. Basically, each character poops and then they place the stack right in front of themselves. The others have to throw their discs at the other person’s disc, but if they aim too low they will hit the poop and if they aim to high….that could be painful. Naturally, all of the kids aim too low for shenanigans to ensue until the main character steps in. That being said, it’s still incredibly wince worthy and you will never want to read the chapter again. I’m sure that the series was canceled at this point because that chapter was just sad.

Overall, Smash Bombers is a series that could have certainly been better. Toyetic shows should always be nothing less than amazing and if you aren’t an instant 7 to an 8 then you must have done something wrong. Having an entire chapter dedicated to the main characters using their droppings to train was really uncalled for. That guaranteed that a 5 was the best that it could do and even a 4 was in question for a minute there. *shudder* If you ignore that chapter, then the rest is decently good and you should probably check it out since it’s a very quick read.It does have some neat action scenes and the ending does manage to make things very dangerous very quickly. Also, how many people can brag that they’ve read a 3 chapter manga before right?

Overall 5/10

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Tag Archives: Shonen Jump

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Bakuman Review

Smash Bomber Review

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