Been a bit MIA but I've read two "new" manga in the process! As usual, studying is quite time consuming. The two manga I read are quite different from each other this month, but they do correlate upon the theme of growth and development of the MC as a central aspect to the entirety of the story.
Hikaru no Go by Hotta Yumi, Art by Obata Takeshi
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports, Supernatural
Status: Complete, 191 chapters scanlated
Hikaru no Go isn't the most popular of its time but when it came out in 1998 to the years after, it was popular enough that it'd be hard to not know about it. It follows our MC Hikaru who encounters a ghost called Sai that has been devoted to playing Go since the days he were alive and through Sai';s influence, Hikaru eventually becomes interested and follows his own path to getting better at Go and finding joy and satisfaction in it.
Hikaru no Go is a childhood favourite, so it's hard for me to dislike it despite its flaws. Let's start with what's good. Quite frankly, what made this manga so special to me would have to be Sai's existence. Not only was he great comedy and support alongside Hikaru, he was also very interesting and highly skilled with Go and so it was always exciting to see him be able to fight against those of the modern era, whilst being so fun and cute. I also think Hikaru's development as a character and Go player was done quite well, even though I still do not like him haha. The fun of this manga would lie in seeing Hikaru grow to be a pro and how he and Sai grow together as they learn things of their worlds from each other. It's also great that you don't really need to actually know anything about Go to understand what's going on but it will most certainly make you curious about the game.
Personally, I had many things I disliked LOL. It can be hard to like this manga if you dislike the main characters and so I couldn't like the manga as much as I wanted to because Hikaru was never a character I could like. Mainly because he was selfish I guess. I never really felt like he treated Sai nicely considering how much Sai did for him. But, I guess he's a "kid" so he's not as empathetic towards what Sai had to go through and why he's so persistent about playing Go. I still didn't like it though. Also, the manga is mainly focused on Hikaru and Akira so really, everyone else was quite disposable and forgettable besides them because it just seemed like every other character was a stepping stone for them rather than people I could really care about. My favourite character was Kaga and he practically becomes non-existent so....
The ending is also a negative. Mostly because it ends very abruptly as if it just suddenly got cut off (which it probably did) since after certain events, the manga lost what was special about it. It wasn't a bad manga afterwards but it also lost what made Hikaru no Go so fun and special in comparison to other manga. I guess you can say, it just became another general sports manga, so it was not bad, not good. So, because of the abrupt ending, there is no conclusion and no wrapping up of anything making it quite unsatisfactory.
Overall, I enjoyed it because Sai has always been the greatest highlight for me and seeing Sai watch over Hikaru as he grows was nice. It also makes Go seem really fun and interesting so I'd recommend it if you're interested in stuff like these sports and character growth.
Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) by Ooima Yoshitoki
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shounen
Status: Complete, 62 chapters scanlated
Recently, I watched the film for this and really enjoyed it. I think the adaptation of it was done very well in the limited time it had for the movie and the only gripe would be that the granny's death part could have been more elaborated as it is in the manga since the growth of Ishida was very importantly shown with his talk to Yuzuru in that there are many people around them that are their friends and that they can rely on. It was really sweet and touching.
Anywho, if you haven't heard of it, this is a story about bullying, redemption, growth, disability and a bit of suicide. So, it does touch on some sensitive themes if you're deterred from that. It revolves around how our MC and the rest of the class bullied the FMC when they were children causing her to transfer schools. As the main bully, our MC had shouldered the blame for being the perpetrator and eventually becomes the one bullied. 5 years later, with the ostracisation continuing well on to his high school years, he finds that he wants to do something for the girl he bullied before killing himself. However, with his sincerity, he gets through to her and they instead find meaning to live through each other.
The characters are most definitely the highlight of this one. Frankly, I really liked Ueno but hated Kawai. The fickleness, the fakeness and everything about Kawai irked me. Whereas the bluntness of Ueno got through to me, since really, she tried to be like our MC in a way. I really liked the MC the most though, mainly because he knew and understood the weight of his actions after and he doesn't actively seek redemption, but he gets it anyway because of the person our FMC is. He merely wanted to make our FMC happy now because he knows that he can't give back the happy childhood he stole from her and you can really see how hard she tries to do this. He never forgives himself but he wants to do whatever he can for her and it touched me. It also goes through our MC's own difficult passage towards forgiving his past classmates that bullied him as well. Some things seem to be resolved too easily at the end but it was still quite a good manga.
I'd recommend this if you're interested in seeing the story of someone who realises their past grave mistakes and tries to change the present instead of dwelling in the past. He has his weak moments of course but so does the FMC and I find that his struggles are very realistic and portrayed very well. It made me teary seeing how difficult it was for him. It's not too deep of a story but it definitely has its moments and that makes it easier to read without totally breaking your heart haha.
Some people complain about the MC and FMC not properly getting together at the end but I think with their respective goals and mindsets towards the future, they're practically together lol. Overall, I enjoyed the manga and would recommend the movie if you're too lazy to read it haha. The music, animation and VA is quite beautiful and fitting.
