Manga Monday: Maou-jou de Oyasumi by Kumanomata Kagiji

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Maou-jou de Oyasumi by Kumanomata Kagiji!

Plot Synopsis: The Demon King broke the truce by kidnapping the much loved princess. However, while the human world falls into despair and heroes gather to save her, the princess is actually well looked after and mostly just wants to sleep…

Plot: The plot is a huge twist on the “Damsel in Distress” stereotype and is quite funny. Honestly I had a great time reading this first chapter, and if I wasn’t trying to do some work ahead of the holidays I’d be reading every release I could of this. There isn’t much story, but it was such a refreshing take on the stereotype that I didn’t mind the lack of plot.

Characters: The Princess is a riot, and the fact that she’s just a lazy slob is awesome. There isn’t a bunch of characters we get introduced to, but the entire cast we see is quite funny and good.

Art: The art isn’t Shueisha level, but it’s darn close.

Overall: A great read, definitely worth reading for those who want a good laugh or two.

For those who like: Fantasy, Comedy, Twisting Stereotypes Around, Excellent Lead Character, Great Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Blue Flag by KAITO

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Blue Flag by KAITO!

Plot Synopsis:  Three students in their third and final year of high school meet during a time when they are worried about paths for their futures. Waiting for them are sweet, painful, and heartrending days.

Plot: The plot is so stereotypical that I really don’t find the series all that amazing. It’s not that much of a surprise that it’s relegated to the online publication of Jump.

Characters: Taichi is our main point of view character, while Touma and Kuze are our other two leads. Frankly I hate them all, Kuze is the stereotypical clumsy and shy girl, Touma is the energetic and outgoing extrovert that everyone loves and Taichi is the loner. It’s so cliched that I just can’t bring myself to read another chapter.

Art: The art is great, as you’d expect from a Shueisha publication, but it’s not enough to save this from getting put on my don’t bother to read list.

Overall: Skip this unless you are really, really desperate for a Slice of Life series to read.

For those who like: Slice of Life, School Life, Drama, Romance, Mediocrity.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Halcyon Lunch by Samura Hiroaki

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Halcyon Lunch by Samura Hiroaki!

Plot Synopsis: Gen, a recently bankrupted and now homeless guy, meets an unusual and hungry girl named Hios who can eat anything with her chopsticks.

Plot: This is another Gag Manga, something I typically don’t enjoy, and this was not an exception. It was way too random to make me laugh like it was intended. I’m guessing others felt the same way as this series only lasted for two volumes before ending.

Characters: Gen is an oddball main character, but he is completely normal compared to Hios who is just plain bizarre. I’m unsure if the rest of the cast we meet in this chapter was even going to stick around, but given the short nature of the series I suppose it really doesn’t matter.

Art: The art is decent at least, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of story or plot direction.

Overall: Skip this, it’s just too out there for most people to understand I think.

For those who like: Slapstick, Comedy.

Not for those who don’t like: Either of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Shishunki Bitter Change by Masayoshi

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Shishunki Bitter Change by Masayoshi!

Plot Synopsis: The elementary schoolers Yuuta and Yui had their body swapped when Yuuta fell down from a tree. It’s already been three years, and now they’re in middle school. How will they co-operate in dealing with this as they grow up?

Plot: The plot is pretty interesting, as it deals with the question of a body swapping incident that never gets solved. I enjoyed this first chapter quite a bit, and I actually ended up reading a few more chapters before stopping so I could write this up, but that’s beyond the scope of this post and review.

Characters: Yuuta and Yui are typical kids, with Yui being the more serious of the two, and Yuuta being much more outgoing. We don’t really get introduced to the rest of the cast in this first chapter, but that’s okay.

Art: The art isn’t super detailed, but it’s not terrible either. It’s got a simplistic quality that works amazingly well for this series.

Overall: A great read, if I didn’t have to write this article I’d be reading every chapter I could, so that should be a hint towards what I think of it.

For those who like: Drama, School Life, Slice of Life, Fantastic Plot, Excellent Lead Characters, Great Art.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Kochikame by Akimoto Osamu

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got a Quick Review for the longest Manga, by a long shot. It’s Kochikame by Akimoto Osamu!

Plot Synopsis: The story, as its name indicates, focuses on the adventures and misadventures of a police station where we meet a cast of characters located within the park front of Kameari in Katsuhika Ward of the Tokyo Prefecture in Japan. Among the characters is the protagonist Ryotsu, his colleagues Nakagawa and Reiko, and his boss Bucho, who have appeared the most frequently.

Plot: This first chapter was very slapstick, which is pretty much the same for the entire series. This series ran for 40 years starting in 1976 and ending just last year. So while you may not be really interested in the series as a whole, you ought to give at least a chapter a read just for the fact that it ran for over 1,900 chapters and spanned 200 volumes.

Characters: Ryotsu is pretty much a jerk, while Nakagawa the only other character we get introduced to in this chapter is the standard noob cop, although he obviously comes from a very wealthy family as he’s always dressed up in some ridiculously fancy suit.

Art: The art is very old style, but given that it started in 1976 can you really expect anything different?

Overall: Worth reading at least a chapter, just to appreciate how long this series ran.

For those who like: Slapstick, Comedy, Slice of Life, Long Running Series.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, especially that last one.