So I'm a little early with this month's but better early than late right? Hahaha, I've read a few new manga but I thought I'd keep it to these 3 since my thoughts on Gantz is super longgg. Happy April~
Gantz by Oku Hiroya
Rating: 8/10 - Has some flaws but overall good (long rant)
As a manga reader, it's hard to not have heard of Gantz unless you're new to it since this was crazy popular when it came out and the anime just fueled it even more, probably. I don't really remember anymore haha, but when I was young, I never bothered to touch it because I wasn't into anything overly violent and Berserk and Gantz were in a sense the epitome of it (popular series wise). Now, I realise I really should have read these earlier because they're pretty good for shounen-esque story with seinen elements. Just a heads up, if you're not into heavy violence and sexual content such as some rape, nudity etc, then skip this. Also, it's a male-centric manga so most of the girls are really only there because they are somehow or another in love with the men or for some boobs. Personally, most shounen stuff is like that so I didn't really care but it can get frustrating.
Gantz is set in the modern world where 2 high schoolers are rammed down by a train but then suddenly teleported into a room with a black sphere that tells them that their lives are over and is in their control now in which they are then handed the weird futuristic black suits (that even if you haven't heard of Gantz, you'll have seen these suits) and guns to be equipped with in order to battle against aliens that they have been assigned to kill by this black ball. And that's how their journey starts on what exactly this ball is, why they have to do this and why do they have to face their comrades dying left and right every single time there is a mission.
I'd say the main appeal of this story would have to be the battles since to be honest, the whole mystery of what Gantz (the black sphere) is wasn't hard to decipher as the story goes along, although I have to say, I really don't buy how Gantz works though so I was disappointed about that aspect very much since that was the only thing I was curious about but whatever. Battles were pretty epic and I really liked many of our male main characters especially that old man our MC was fond of as a sidekick as well. Story was paced quite well and I loved how Kurono changed by finding Tae. It was so funny when Tae became a target and the ball said her favourite phrase was "Kei-chan" because that's usually the only thing she says in this manga hahaha. The vampire arc was weird though, it was cool since they were strong but I had no idea what was the point of making Kurono's brother somewhat important only to kill him off screen later and not care anymore lol. Osaka arc was pretty cool since you start to see other teams and I liked how Katou and Kei were insistent on reviving each other, that option was rather obvious for the 100 points. Last arc was pretty downright sickening but interesting and I guess, what I was looking forward to since we knew there was some sort of alien invasion for a while now. BUT THAT ENDING. When I read some comments about the disastrous ending, I was thinking what could be so crappy about it? Deus ex machina? Stupid ending to the story? NO, it was the type of ending I hate the most, it was an inconclusive ending. Where the moment the last battle ended, the manga ended along with it. It was ridiculous. I can see how annoying it must have been for the readers who invested 10+ years into this to not even get an epilogue. It was outrageous.
I do buy Kurono and Tae's relationship and I like it and think it made sense. I don't get all the Tae hate lol. The only hate I would have for her is that the author dragged on with the saving Tae bits like omgg but I think that her character really enhanced Kurono's and made him more of caring person so I like that bit about it. Personally, I didn't like Reika, from the beginning to end, she was probably the most selfish and obsessed with an idealistic hero. Reika and Kurono is probably the most ideal couple you can find in a manga, a hero with a perfect heroine in appearance and possibly personality. To be fair, everyone is selfish to an extent in this manga (besides Katou) but Reika disgusted me when she made a 2nd Kurono. Personally, I think the author only did that so he could show the two sides of Kurono, the one that is a hero and the one that only cares about Tae. Considering Kurono's personality, the one who saved Tae is most definitely the genuine one because in essence, the only thing he cares about is Tae and the world is not important to him because frankly he doesn't care and I liked that he was like that. But, readers wouldn't be satisfied with a wimpy mc like that so there was the second one to fulfill the saving the world role. Reika always seemed to only like the heroic him and couldn't see that the real him was the one who was always trying to save Tae but whatever. The moment she made the second one, I knew they were both going to die like the tragic story she desired it to end like.
As for the other characters, Katou was amusing, I love how he always has a girl that is willing to sacrifice her life for him loll. It seems like he'd go with the Osaka girl so that's good. My favourite character was Kaze though and I thought it was so hilarious when that girl who liked him said that he can't be a virgin and he blushed and then she thought he was so cute hahahaha. I liked how his relationship with Takeshi developed and how Takeshi grew from a weak boy that could only cry to a man who followed Kaze's fighting style. I thought it was so adorable and touching.
Art was superb and I loved how the author bothered to draw the detail on the sliced humans, I know that sounds disgusting loll but it was a welcome addition instead of just blood spurting out all the time. I also liked the use of the katanas or whatever they are, although it seemed like a lot of the time, they scrapped the use of the guns and just changed it to using the katanas as the main source of weapon to killing these aliens but whatever, it was cool. Overall, definitely worth a read, I really liked it despite the flaws and finished it all in 3 days.
Tomodachi Game by Yamaguchi Mikoto, Artist: Satou Yuuki
Gantz by Oku Hiroya
Rating: 8/10 - Has some flaws but overall good (long rant)
As a manga reader, it's hard to not have heard of Gantz unless you're new to it since this was crazy popular when it came out and the anime just fueled it even more, probably. I don't really remember anymore haha, but when I was young, I never bothered to touch it because I wasn't into anything overly violent and Berserk and Gantz were in a sense the epitome of it (popular series wise). Now, I realise I really should have read these earlier because they're pretty good for shounen-esque story with seinen elements. Just a heads up, if you're not into heavy violence and sexual content such as some rape, nudity etc, then skip this. Also, it's a male-centric manga so most of the girls are really only there because they are somehow or another in love with the men or for some boobs. Personally, most shounen stuff is like that so I didn't really care but it can get frustrating.
Gantz is set in the modern world where 2 high schoolers are rammed down by a train but then suddenly teleported into a room with a black sphere that tells them that their lives are over and is in their control now in which they are then handed the weird futuristic black suits (that even if you haven't heard of Gantz, you'll have seen these suits) and guns to be equipped with in order to battle against aliens that they have been assigned to kill by this black ball. And that's how their journey starts on what exactly this ball is, why they have to do this and why do they have to face their comrades dying left and right every single time there is a mission.
I'd say the main appeal of this story would have to be the battles since to be honest, the whole mystery of what Gantz (the black sphere) is wasn't hard to decipher as the story goes along, although I have to say, I really don't buy how Gantz works though so I was disappointed about that aspect very much since that was the only thing I was curious about but whatever. Battles were pretty epic and I really liked many of our male main characters especially that old man our MC was fond of as a sidekick as well. Story was paced quite well and I loved how Kurono changed by finding Tae. It was so funny when Tae became a target and the ball said her favourite phrase was "Kei-chan" because that's usually the only thing she says in this manga hahaha. The vampire arc was weird though, it was cool since they were strong but I had no idea what was the point of making Kurono's brother somewhat important only to kill him off screen later and not care anymore lol. Osaka arc was pretty cool since you start to see other teams and I liked how Katou and Kei were insistent on reviving each other, that option was rather obvious for the 100 points. Last arc was pretty downright sickening but interesting and I guess, what I was looking forward to since we knew there was some sort of alien invasion for a while now. BUT THAT ENDING. When I read some comments about the disastrous ending, I was thinking what could be so crappy about it? Deus ex machina? Stupid ending to the story? NO, it was the type of ending I hate the most, it was an inconclusive ending. Where the moment the last battle ended, the manga ended along with it. It was ridiculous. I can see how annoying it must have been for the readers who invested 10+ years into this to not even get an epilogue. It was outrageous.
I do buy Kurono and Tae's relationship and I like it and think it made sense. I don't get all the Tae hate lol. The only hate I would have for her is that the author dragged on with the saving Tae bits like omgg but I think that her character really enhanced Kurono's and made him more of caring person so I like that bit about it. Personally, I didn't like Reika, from the beginning to end, she was probably the most selfish and obsessed with an idealistic hero. Reika and Kurono is probably the most ideal couple you can find in a manga, a hero with a perfect heroine in appearance and possibly personality. To be fair, everyone is selfish to an extent in this manga (besides Katou) but Reika disgusted me when she made a 2nd Kurono. Personally, I think the author only did that so he could show the two sides of Kurono, the one that is a hero and the one that only cares about Tae. Considering Kurono's personality, the one who saved Tae is most definitely the genuine one because in essence, the only thing he cares about is Tae and the world is not important to him because frankly he doesn't care and I liked that he was like that. But, readers wouldn't be satisfied with a wimpy mc like that so there was the second one to fulfill the saving the world role. Reika always seemed to only like the heroic him and couldn't see that the real him was the one who was always trying to save Tae but whatever. The moment she made the second one, I knew they were both going to die like the tragic story she desired it to end like.
As for the other characters, Katou was amusing, I love how he always has a girl that is willing to sacrifice her life for him loll. It seems like he'd go with the Osaka girl so that's good. My favourite character was Kaze though and I thought it was so hilarious when that girl who liked him said that he can't be a virgin and he blushed and then she thought he was so cute hahahaha. I liked how his relationship with Takeshi developed and how Takeshi grew from a weak boy that could only cry to a man who followed Kaze's fighting style. I thought it was so adorable and touching.
Art was superb and I loved how the author bothered to draw the detail on the sliced humans, I know that sounds disgusting loll but it was a welcome addition instead of just blood spurting out all the time. I also liked the use of the katanas or whatever they are, although it seemed like a lot of the time, they scrapped the use of the guns and just changed it to using the katanas as the main source of weapon to killing these aliens but whatever, it was cool. Overall, definitely worth a read, I really liked it despite the flaws and finished it all in 3 days.
Tomodachi Game by Yamaguchi Mikoto, Artist: Satou Yuuki
Rating: 6/10 - OK
To be fair, I've only read 7 chapters so it's hard to tell whether I like it or not but I guess it's amusing? However, I still think that in comparison, the author's other works such as Dead Tube and Mayonaka no X Giten are much more interesting and engaging. I guess what this manga lacks for now would be the impact it tries to deliver but isn't being achieved. There's nothing surprising or shocking besides the entertainment in our characters digging up secrets about each other that I don't really care for right now since we don't really know much about the characters besides the stereotype that they are labelled with for us to know what sort of person they're supposed to be.
Anywho the plot revolves around a group of friends who have been thrown into a game because one of them volunteered for it and forced everyone to participate because of the cliche "we need to help our friends in need!" since to participate in this game, they needed to give a deposit of 20 million yen and so if they don't participate, that friend will be in debt and since everyone's a nice little angel, they decided to participate and earn the money back. For me, I'd say it's a pretty forced premise or just one that I'm not very keen on. I'd much rather read Dead Tube and Mayonaka but I guess the good thing about this one is that no one's dead yet? Whereas in Dead Tube, there's so many people dying and boobs everywhere I guess? loll The most amusing thing about Dead Tube is probably how very interestingly screwed up and disturbing it is but it's still rather tame to a certain extent although there's plenty of nudity in that loll. I can imagine people thinking how disturbing I must be to actually like to read that more than this loll. But yeah anyways, back to this manga, I'd read it a bit more and then decide whether to keep reading or not.
Living Like a Flower by Hun, Artists: Park Hyeong-jun, Song Rae-Hyeon
Rating: 7/10 - Enjoyable
I'm surprised, I actually quite liked this. This is a slice of life webtoon where we have the stories of 4 different people trying to deal with real life problems and somehow or another, they meet this flower shop owner that dispenses his advice and knowledge to them and thus helping them solve their problems. I like the idea that even though the flower shop owner helps them, in the end, what he gives them is a little chance and the one who makes them succeed is in the end themselves. I think this webtoon sends out a great message for those who are in a stump as well and albeit that it is a bit more on the optimistic side, I think for realistic problems like these, you really need some sort of optimism to go on. I think if you have some spare time, it would definitely be worth a read, it's light-hearted but at the same time touching and really does strike a chord in relatabiltiy as to how we live our lives and how we cope. I think I liked the first couple's relationship and memories the most but I really enjoyed the celebrity girl's journey, mainly because of the brother and because he thought that his life wasn't a sacrifice for hers because in the end, we ourselves make our own decisions, it may have benefited her life but this was the life he himself chose and I liked that.
