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.

Manga Monday: King’s Viking by Fukami Makoto

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s King’s Viking by Fukami Makoto!

Plot Synopsis: 18-year-old Koreeda Kazuki is a genius hacker whose only real skill lies with computers. Into his aimless life steps Sakai Daisuke, a wealthy man who makes him a proposition he finds impossible to refuse: that he will become Koreeda’s investor on the condition that Koreeda use his abilities to help him “conquer the world.”

Plot: The above synopsis makes the plot sound a bit more dramatic than it really is, but this first chapter was still pretty darn interesting. Frankly I’ll probably end up reading this series once a big stock of chapters is accumulated.

Characters: We are really only introduced to Daisuke and Kazuki in this first chapter, although we’ll probably see more people who weren’t really introduced in this first chapter later on. That being said Kazuki and Daisuke are pretty interesting, Daisuke is a seriously driven person and Kazuki even though he’s essentially penniless is still an incredibly smart kid. I like them as leads quite a bit.

Art: The art of this first chapter is pretty great, not quite Shueisha level quality, but darn close.

Overall: This looks to be a pretty interesting series so I’m going to continue reading it, eventually.

For those who like: Seinen, Psychological, Mystery, Drama, Interesting Plot, Awesome Lead Characters, Fantastic Artwork.

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

Manga Monday: Helck by Nanao Nanaki

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Helck by Nanao Nanaki!

Plot Synopsis: The Demon King has been defeated and now the Demon World is running a competition to choose a successor. A muscular, high-level human named Helck has joined the competition claiming that he wishes to destroy all humans. Is he serious?!?

Plot: The plot of this first chapter is pretty hilarious, we’ve got a total twist on the Demon King vs Hero trope and it was great to read. I won’t spoil the twists, but it made me burst out laughing more than once.

Characters: We didn’t get introduced to Helck in this chapter, not really, we get to see him in the background, but the main star of this chapter was Vamirio one of the four highest ranking Demons. She was pretty funny to watch freak out at having a human participate in a contest to become the Demon King.

Art: The art is pretty great, not quite Shueisha level work, but not far from it.

Overall: This is a great first chapter, this is getting my definite approval.

For those who like: Fantasy, Magic, Comedy, Drama, Action, Great Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters, Awesome Artwork.

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

Manga Monday: Yami no Aegis by Nanatsuki Kyouichi

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Yami no Aegis by Nanatsuki Kyouichi!

Plot Synopsis: Karito Tate is a bodyguard who takes on various jobs to protect VIPs using martial arts, various firearms, or high-tech gadgets…

Plot: The plot is pretty great, though considering that this is by the same guy who wrote Jesus I’m not surprised at all.

Characters: Karito is a good lead character, he’s smart and he’s a bad ass. Anna on the other hand is our female lead and she’s pretty mysterious. We don’t get to meet any other characters really in this first chapter, but still it’s a great introduction to Karito.

Art: I don’t enjoy the art style of this quite as much as I enjoyed Jesus’s art style, but it’s not terrible either. It just isn’t my favorite.

Overall: Again like Jesus, if you haven’t the series, you really ought to give it a chance. You’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t.

For those who like: Action, Drama, Martial Arts, Great Plot, Badass Lead, Good Art.

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

Manga Monday: Atom by Tetsuro Kasahara

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Atom by Tetsuro Kasahara!

Plot Synopsis: Two prodigies, Umatarou Tenma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu, have spent endless amounts of time researching robots with Tenma wanting to produce a god and Ochanomizu wanting to produce a friend, eventually producing the robot A106. The question the duo were both wondering, would A106 eventually turn into a god or a friend?

Plot: First off I should state that this series is the prequel to Tezuka’s Astro Boy, although which version it is the prequel for I have no clue. I’ve never watched/read Astro Boy because there are way too many different versions of the story. Now that all being said this first chapter was very interesting, but not super original either. Than again, since it’s the prequel to what started a bunch of different tropes, I can’t really blame it. I’ll probably continue reading the rest of the series eventually, but it’ll have to wait for me to clear out my massive backlog of stuff to read.

Characters: Tenma seems to be a pretty interesting guy, if a bit arrogant and wanting to play God with the world. Ochanomizu on the other hand was a lot more interesting to me, if only because he seemed to be the more earnest type. The rest of the cast seems to be rather small thus far, but it was just the first chapter. Six was pretty interesting, if rather quiet.

Art: Definitely a throw back to Tezuka’s original works, this has a very retro art style, but it’s very well done.

Overall: Definitely worth a read, especially for Tezuka fans.

For those who like: Drama, Action, Robots, Astro Boy, Tezuka, Excellent Plot, Awesome Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork.

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