I just realised that it's been a while since I talked about manga! It's kinda crazy since I read manga more than I watch anime, but I guess most of the stuff I'm reading are stories I've been reading for years so I probably would have recommended them already lol. Anyway, I accumulated a few I've been reading and really enjoyed! The funny thing is I would actually rate them all an 8 hahaha!~ It can't be anything lower because they're better than that (imo), but anything higher is a bit too much lol, I just find it funny that I think they all deserve an 8 hahaha.
Survive as the Hero's Wife
by Nokki, art by Ahbin
Genre: Fantasy, Isekai, Romance, Shoujo
Status: Ongoing, 62 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
This is probably my favourite Korean isekai villainess webcomic (not that I read many actually lol)! Caesar (Male MC) is adorable and Canaria (Female MC) is fun, and even though the story is probably the weakest part, their relationship is too cute and adorable to miss out on. I do have to admit that when I first read this, it was pretty boring though, it honestly does take a while to get up to speed (in terms of their relationship), and really, it's only when they are more upfront with their feelings that the relationship gets more enjoyable. Caesar is the naive handsome guy that is totally clueless about love but sincerely loves and cares for Canaria, whereas Canaria is the reincarnated woman who finds it difficult to form any romantic feelings towards Caesar since not only will that cause her destruction flag (basically, her death), but it's probably also hard for her to have really felt that way about him until later on due to their "age difference". She's known her past life since she was a child and is much more focused on trying to survive than to romance a guy, so it's understandable that she wouldn't feel anything for him until she actually talks to him more and understands that he's a person and not a "character" in the novel.
As with a lot of the other villainess isekai tropes, the story follows Canaria reincarnating into the world of a novel. She realises that she's the character that will eventually be executed by her husband, so in order to avoid that, she hopes to find a way to divorce him in the future and save her life. The story starts from when the two of them are children but quickly reaches the point when they are adults. Naturally, similar to a lot of the other similar stories of this kind, the guy ends up falling for her and it's extremely unlikely he'd kill her since she's not a "villain" in the story anymore, but the politics stuff remain a problem for both Caesar and Canaria in accessing their happy life. It's pretty cliche stuff of the queen wanting her own son to be king and not Caesar blah blah, so they have schemes blah blah typical stuff lol, so I wouldn't really recommend this if it's the story you have hope in, because the highlight of this one is definitely the romance and the art which are pretty good, so I enjoy it for that haha. Although there's a lot of the usual misunderstandings and frustrations in the beginning, Caesar is just such a shy and sweet cinnamon roll that melts every girl's hearts with his purity, so Canaria isn't one that can defend against that for long haha. I won't say Canaria is the smartest of the bunch since I do feel like she's makes questionable decisions, but really, she's just a normal person trying to live in another world, she's not some OP MC so I think it's understandable. Definitely recommended if you like your cute cinnamon roll kinda guys lol.
Spy x Family
by Endou Tatsuya
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Shounen
Status: Ongoing, 22 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
It's sad that the manga is monthly, but I guess that gives it time to really make the chapters great, because I loved nearly every chapter of it haha. As other people say, this is kinda like a Mr and Mrs Smith type of story where Loid is a spy and Yor is a hitman and they both don't know each other's real identities but happen to come together as a married couple due to their respective circumstances of their jobs. And then you add Anya (the kid) the esper to the mix and the story just becomes both interesting, funny and adorable! Anya definitely carries a lot of the story because of how amusing of a girl she is. As an esper, she listens to a lot of their thoughts and understands that her "parents" are not normal, but she's still a kid, so no matter how much she knows or understands, she solves things in her own unique and cute kiddish way and it makes things so funny but amusing. The relationship dynamic is the highlight of the series because it's really entertaining to watch Anya do her best to keep them together as a "family" whilst being her silly self, I'd say the story is equally driven with touching moments as well as comedy, and it does it well!
The story basically follows Loid who has been assigned a mission to "make a family" in order to infiltrate a politician's son's school and get closer to him for information. This ensues his first task of finding a wife and kid and that's where everything starts~ Initially, I wasn't sure if I would like Yor because Loid and Anya was hilarious and cute enough, but having Yor being the kinda strong mother that protects Anya, and seeing them all have their own respective reasons for leading the life they do, it's really fun to see how all the characters interact and how that ties in with saving the country haha. A great thing about this manga is that even though there is a lot of comedy, the action doesn't disappoint at all! Yor and Loid are really cool and I really enjoy their action scenes! I also think it's really sweet to think that in the end, the three of them are protecting families like themselves.
Given
by Kizu Natsuki
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance, Shounen Ai, Slice of Life
Status: Ongoing, 33 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
I already talked about the anime in a previous post (so I'll just add a bit!) and since the anime follows the manga rather closely and adds to it making it even better since you can hear Mafuyu sing (omg!), I don't have as much to say about it other than I really love how real the relationships between the characters are. I think the story sets out each character's personalities and feelings very well (although Uenoyama is not as well developed as others imo) and how their past and present circumstances affect their relationships. For now, there are three pairings of guys and we're on to the third (it seems), but it's not a linear story in that you go from one couple to the next, because even though the focus changes temporarily, the story stays faithful to the fact that although the relationships are important, their bands are just as important and their desire to create and play music is what drives them. Personally, there are positives and negatives about the story and development of each couple but I think that's the best thing about them! They're all flawed, they all find it difficult to show their feelings, they all think about the consequences of how going further may change their current situations, but they still persist and get through their problems because they love each other and don't want to let their past etc tie them down, and I really enjoy that. Seeing the guys improve each other as romantic partners as well as friends (since all the couples are great friends with each other) makes it feel like such a nice depiction of life, friendships and relationships. The shounen ai bit made me hesitate to read the story in the beginning but honestly, it doesn't detract from the story one bit, it feels like such a normal and sweet romance, I think most people will be able to enjoy it for what it is even if you're not into BL.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
by Mayuzuki Jun
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Seinen, Slice of Life
Status: Completed, 82 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
I've always felt this manga was unique to my heart and I think it was when I read the ending that it reminded me of why I liked it so much. I think it's kinda funny that after reading the whole thing, I still don't remember the guy's name and only remember him as "Manager" because that's what Akira refers to him as throughout the story. As a person who is interested in age gap love stories, this story can probably be considered romantic due to Akira constantly trying to appeal her love to the manager in her own way, yet the manager never really reciprocates due to their age gap and his consideration for her and his own situations, but I think overall, it is more of a story of two people of different ages losing themselves in a time where their "time has stopped" and they find it difficult to even have the desire to proceed and move forward in their lives because of things such as fear, and so they find each other having a similar "atmosphere" to the other and are drawn to that. Although the two have a big age gap with completely different lifestyles, it's crazy how well they can communicate from manager to staff into friends where they both have something to share to the other and change them.
The story follows the high school student Akira, she used to be a part of the track and field club, but after an injury causing her to be unable to run as fast as she could before, she ends up quitting and finding a part time job in a family restaurant. At this family restaurant, she meets the kind manager Kondou who is seen as useless and happy go lucky by the other staff, but nevertheless, Akira falls in love with him and eventually tells him her feelings. Akira's confession is what drives the story and their relationship, and it is what allows them both to finally be able to communicate on a deeper level as they both begin to see the other side of each other. Just as Akira is unable to get over her injury, Kondou is unable to get over his dream of writing and I think it felt really nice to see the contrast between them, and I think their similarities and differences really reflected how well their relationship was and how they both improve each other and lead each other into thinking about things in a different perspective, as well as gaining the courage to try things again. I can't help but fall in love with how awkward yet natural their conversations could be, and how much they both influenced each other for the better. Definitely recommended for the unique friendship relationship Akira and the manager both had! The ending came a bit too fast imo but it did round up rather nicely so I wasn't too disappointed and really enjoyed most of the ride.
Kimetsu no Yaiba
by Gotouge Koyoharu
by Gotouge Koyoharu
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Historical, Shounen, Tragedy
Status: Ongoing, 196 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
As with Given, I've commented on what I liked about the anime, and although there were things I understood better with the manga, I do agree that overall the anime visuals and flow of the fights definitely improved on the overall portrayal of the story. As I said previously, the story is simple and straightforward and honestly, I don't think it ever really deviates from that. If you enjoyed the anime/beginning of the manga, you would definitely enjoy the future chapters because things only get more intense and interesting, considering it starts to delve a lot more into the Pillars and the Upper Moons, and eventually Kibutsuji Muzan. The fights never really "stop" because the story never really lets Tanjirou catch a break unless he's unconscious lol. So if you're all in for the action, you can definitely expect that to continue on for the next couple of arcs needed to be adapted. For me, I think the Red Light District arc with Uzui was my favourite, but I also really enjoyed how short but emotional the Infinity Train arc was (can't wait to watch the movie!).
On the other hand, because the action never really stops, a lot of the characterisation is relied upon stuff like flashbacks, backstories and simple interactions, and this is especially prevalent with the demons they fight. The sad backstories are a thing that does not stop and that can be a good or bad thing depending on what you like. For me, not a lot of them hit, but when they did, it did hit pretty badly enough that it made me cry for them haha. A good thing is though that even though the characterisation is rather simple with backstories to mould them, no one is really forgettable even if they're not especially memorable. Maybe you won't remember their names, but you'll definitely remember the type of personality they have and how they act, and really, with the amount of characters and demons, it's hard to find one you don't like. For me, Rengoku, Akaza and Shinobu are definite favourites, and I just had too much of a soft spot for the Shinazugawa brothers tbh haha. I also loved the siblings demons in Uzui's arc and I think their abilities and stories resonated with me the most (for the demons) alongside Akaza. I'd say most characters get their relevant screentime and the only ones that I feel are kinda robbed by that are Kanroji and maybe Iguro, but I guess that's only in comparison to the other Pillars haha.
But yeah, anyway, I think my biggest problem with the story is the power balance, I think I find it very hard to really pinpoint how some fights ended the way it did and how some injuries could be fine even if I suspended my disbelief. Some of these "power levels" made the flow of the fights rather jarring and confusing imo, but overall, I still enjoyed them since I do find it pretty fascinating for the demon slayers and the demons to both utilise their respective skills to fight and deflect each other. But yeah, as said, the breaths, their powers etc can be under explained making the experience less immersive, but they're still fun since I think the best thing about the manga stays true to itself, and that is all the demon slayers' determinations towards killing all the demons and I think the author shows that really well with each character's stories and even the side characters' unrelenting sacrifices to achieve this dream really make me feel how much they really are fighting to make this all come true. I can't wait to see it all animated! Overall, although I feel like I complained a bit lol, I still really like it because each arc really does get you pumped up for the next with how difficult and crazy the fights get. and I think if you like the type of action Kimetsu no Yaiba offers, then you'll definitely like the manga because it maintains its' quality throughout the story quite well.
