Willow's Reviews & Thoughts

Possibly Long List Of Manga Willow Does Not / Did Not Enjoy

World Embryo
--- WTF was going on there after a while, I didn't even know. At first it seemed to be one story, but then it switched in the middle and involved other characters and then the very premise seemed to switch or get confused. And then a character I was only just starting to get to know dies and the reasoning doesn't even make sense because they don't bother explaining anything in enough detail to keep me interested.


Deadman Wonderland
--- It's got an amazing name and the premise seems cool. A kid gets wrongfully sent to a gladiator futuristic, amusement park type prison in Tokyo. But once again the explanations and intrigue is just too slow. And while I know I'm reading scanlations, I've noticed they take more time trying to fill in the blanks than official English translations done for America, which often try to -Americanize- or at least Anglosize everything. That said the scanlations are using the same art and the art-panels make things plain enough. I have a pretty good idea of aspects of the storyline and it's not being presented in a way that makes me eager to read more.

Possible Long List of Manga Willow Has Or Is Enjoying


Hunter x Hunter
--- I adore the friendship between the two young main hunter characters. Even though it has, what I've come to understand is the sports theme of 'try harder, practice more, get stronger, defeat/impress stronger enemies' I really like the theme within the character arcs. I loved the fact that by the time they reached a certain point, with one particular 'bad guy', I'd not quite forgotten the horrific things he'd done. But I was starting to think of him as a heroic type in need of redemption and acceptance. This is possibly true because the second young male character has strong and solid echoes of that possibility in his own storyline. It's just hits all the right spots so far and I'm looking forward to hunting down the anime.


Amatsuki
--- The summary of this manga doesn't make it seem interesting at all.

History isn't Tokidoki's strong subject. He's even forced to do make-up work at a high-tech history museum to bring up his failing grades. After losing an eye to a virtual reality monster in an Edo-period simulation, he finds himself unable to leave the game. Could it be real?

But it absolutely is for me, even though I admit to hunting down the anime (currently only 13 episodes) and liking the anime better. It's cleaner and more tightly focused - which makes sense since an anime of a manga would essentially be a rewrite. I can almost remember everyone's names already because of watching the anime. And I'm trying to hunt down the names Tienten and Gyoten because they were mentioned as the names of higher spirits in The Twelve Kingdoms as well and I'm immensely curious now.

I love the curveballs thrown into 'finding oneself in a heroic journey/another world' kind of experience.