"It's time you stop. In truth it actually was all... a lie. It is true that this world has the power to grant your wishes. But something like resurrection is a bit of an exaggeration; regardless, of whether or not the plate is big or full, water that flows out of the plate will not return to it. And that is why YOU'RE DEAD."

So in my last review I noted why Black★Rock Shooter the Game the Manga failed as a story. And how the pedophilic elements made me deeply uncomfortable. So that leaves the question how is this execution of a Black★Rock Shooter story? Well Black★Rock Shooter: Innocent Soul is pretty good. I'll first give out a recap and explain what I like about this manga, and some of the stuff I dislike. The Following Story Sections have spoilers each part covers six chapters each, do please avoid spoilers.

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Story Part 1:

We see a teenager scrounging around in ruins when he sees a black haired girl, when the two meet he reveals himself as Ren and she reveals herself as Rock. (How many names does this character have?), so Ren's sister: Io shows up and tells him about how tonight is a full moon and they need to go back home all because of someone or something known as Jack.

Rock / Stella (B★RS:tGtM) / Gray (B★RS:tGtM) / Black★Rock Shooter is oblivious to this information. Ren explains that there's a serial killer known as Jack who kills on every full moon night, no one has been able to catch him and he taunts the police by leaving his body count, inscribed in blood. Everyone save for the elderly and poor were able to move and flee the city.

After spending some time at Ren and Io's abode. Outside of Ren's home, Ron (Rock's living belt?) and Rock have a conversation about making their move against Jack. As Ren is about to sleep he comes to find Io has left in pursuit of making a flower crown for Rock. Before Ren and Rock could make it to her, Jack kills her and then Ren. Jack and Rock then fight only for Jack to find out that Rock is actually someone called "Black Star".

So Black Star / Rock / Stella (B★RS:tGtM) / Gray (B★RS:tGtM) / Black★Rock Shooter uses her second amendment rights on Jack. All the while Ren is in denial believing this to be a dream, that idea is shattered when his reality crumbles. It turns out Jack was a serial killer known as Jack Olie who followed what we know, he was fascinated with death, a serial killer and killed on the full moon.

However, it turns out Jack Olie was caught and given the death penalty. His soul didn't ascend to Heaven or Hell. He was sent to the afterlife between: Hazama. Where the souls of the lost are consumed by delusion. And Jack Olie created a phantom city in which he can continue his slaughter of his past victims. It gets clarified later on that Rock's duty is to slay those who create the realities (Known as Stagnated Souls) and return them so that they may be purified and ascend to heaven.

The next chapter involves a Stagnant Soul known as Nakamura Hanako, who created the illusion of an empty school so she can enjoy it all for herself. Free from the constant struggle and torture her bullies put her through in life. She is bitter when she died in an accident when no one mourned her death. The two then fight when the truth is revealed and Nakamura recognizes Rock as Black Shooter. Ron figures out that Nakamura at some point shut herself off from the rest of the world in order to avoid being hurt any further.

So when it comes down to it Black Star / Rock / Stella (B★RS:tGtM) / Gray (B★RS:tGtM) / Black★Rock Shooter / Black Shooter puts an end to Nakamura, and allows for her soul to rest in peace; however, things go awry when her actual soul when someone snatches the soul and eats it. She is known as Dead / Dead Master. And she just caresses Rock's naked body while drooling (ew). And then returns Rock back to their world while both are half naked in bed (what?)?

Moving on the two having returned back to their world it is revealed of their duty and that there are multiple Black Shooters, Rock being Numer 01451. Like I mentioned before they are supposed to gather stagnant souls from Hazama so that they could be purified and avoid dragging other innocent souls into their delusions. The ones that are unable to are held in reserves. It is also revealed that Dead is a Black Shooter, number 012370 (which is for some reason one digit more than Rock, even though both start with 0s).

Dead also happens to have a companion known as Skull-chan. (I also forgot to mention this but Dead / Dead Master shows up in other Black★Rock Shooter manga and anime, which is interesting). She also happens to be a senior among the Black Shooters. The two stumble upon the people who are purifying the stagnant souls gathered by other Black Shooters and the process is explain. Dead feels disgusted at the sight and concept of purifying souls, has Skull-chan fuck up the process, run off with one of the stagnant souls in her mouth.

Some guards show up and assume Rock done it, but the two clear up that they didn't do anything wrong and proceed to chase after Dead. Dead then happened to trap the two, leading to the Vault of Souls where the Stagnant Souls that can't be purified are held, which I assume are held in individual cages. She asks if Rock also wants to consume the souls as well, but before she can't answer Dead just breaks the cage as the soul then forms into the shape of a monster.

It turns out that Rock sees this monster for who they were Nakamura who then sees visions of Nakamura's painful memories, eventually ending up crying. Dead then says that Rock's face is cute which makes me question if the Black Shooters have a form of HR due to how gross Dead is towards Rock. She then goes up to the monster and just commands it to scream. Ron reveals that this monster is the soul's memory of it's regret, and its regret is the reason it cannot be purified.

Then Dead stabs the monster, and eats the Stagnant Soul we literally seen her eat a few minutes ago. Next chapter the leaders of the Black Shooter organization say that they have two million troops and billion Stagnant Souls left to go. The two discuss what to do and one suggests increasing the ranks to 10 million, but Ouro (the creator of the Black Shooters) disagrees as to not burden them. It's also revealed that Black Shooters are mostly corrupted. The others say that emotions are clouding his judgement, a parallel to what we've seen in Rock.

We cut to Rock, Ron and another Shooter and weird sidekick thing: Acta and Nico. Ron is concerned about Rock's performance due to her hesitations as of late. It turns out the Stagnant Soul the two are facing is a goddamn tiger due it's heavy resolve to survive. Then a bunch of hunters come to fight the tiger, it's revealed this a memory of when it was imprison. The Tiger then just murders Acta, Rock finishes off aforementioned tiger. She is then mocked by Acta's partner, but it is told to shut up by someone.

Who tells them that all Black Shooters expendable. Next chapter we see Ron Rock, and Nico in the place of Rock's birth, where all Black Shooters are made. Nico is here to be assigned a new Black Shooter. The process of which is they break down a Stagnant Soul's ego, they "dispose of the trash while we retain the souls." Rock is left justifiably shook, Nico says that Ron should replace his own Black Shooter. Ron is pissed, leaves leaving Nico to catch a glimpse of someone who has been in the background of the previous chapter.

We cut to Rock in some ruins, listening to someone sing. Turns out it was a trap as Ron goes to save her. It turns out this woman is another Stagnated Soul. The same woman in white Nico saw earlier comes to Rock's aid, who reveals herself as Ram. Rock is told to slay the Stagnated Soul, she refuses, but is told that Black Shooters and Stagnated Souls are similar enough that Rock could turn. She fails in doing so, leaving Ram to finish the job.

But Rock gets in the way tryng to protect the Stagnant Soul. She does this as she wants to hear her song. This leaving the Stagnant Soul to move on in peace. Ram remarks how "those who hears the siren's song and live will cause the siren itself to be destroyed", calling back to the Greek references I failed to mention; however, it is revealed whoever hears the siren's song uninterrupted are immune to the mind control. (I guess this was a test for Rock if Ram knew this from the start).

Rock remembers how "it made her laugh, it felt bad, it burned, but she laughed" and how she wants to regain herself. Next chapter Ron and Rock are in a cold illusion. The two are having a hard time as there's an entire town's of people. Rock goes back to the previous chapter with Ram saying her resolve will lead to despair.

Back to the present an old woman is scolding her daughter for failing to clean up the streets. She apologizes so naturally her mother is about to beat her, when Rock intervenes. The girl (Cecil) is told to go set up shop, before she does, she talks to Rock, saying that her mother's allegedly kind; however, Cecil notices Ron. Ron fumbles and makes up a backstory that they're a ventriloquist duo.

Cecil is scolded, before quickly tending to tables. Rock asks why she smiles in spite of her mother's hatred, she says "if she smiles, even while feeling down the contagious feeling will overpower her heart. That's why she smiles and is kind to others." Rock wants to smile and Cecil's mother backhands her child. Cecil says she loves her, and is thus beaten with a cane. Cecil dies as her mother laughs.

And then the clock goes backwards, the world is locked in an eternal loop. This time loop is brought about due the mother's eternal hatred of her daughter. Rock stops the first beating again and the fights the Stagnant Soul. As Rock is about land the killing blow, Cecil's cries distract her hand is cut off. When it is revealed that Cecil is actually the soul (huh? This is a bit confusing). Cecil reveals that her mother was kind, until her father's death and that Cecil just wants to return to that.

Thus resulting in a self imposed time loop in the hopes that her mother would go back to the ways she was. Rock then tells Cecil her mother won't love her again if she does nothing to initiate the change she wants, she must hug her mother to transfer her warmth to her. And so... she does. The two then pass on with Cecil hoping that Rock can someday smile, as both souls are at peace.

That was the first half, my god that took a while. How about we break this up about something else.

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Intermission:

So I want to take the time to talk about the art, I love the art style. Every page just looks great. One of my compliments towards Black★Rock Shooter the Game the Manga was the art and how despite everything else it was really pretty to look at. It's like reading All Star Batman and the Boy Wonder. You get edgy edgelord Batman abusing a 12 year old boy and laughing like a jackass. All laced with horrible writing, but the art looks so pretty to look at. Which is a shame there and for Black★Rock Shooter the Game the Manga; because, despite being really pretty art it's associated with some of the worst storytelling I've ever seen.

But here I can appreciate the pretty good story with the amazing art. Now there is an aspect of the art direction I do want to touch on at a later date. That being Black★Rock Shooter's design. Because I think in some stories it works and others it doesn't, but I have some mixed thoughts here. Anyways back to the story.

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Story Part 2:

We cut to Dead looming above another soul in a heavily sexually charged position ready to gobble another Stagnant Soul. Only for Rock to stop her when she's caught she tries fleeing, using Skull-chan as a distraction, this fails. Also side note Dead is called a "drooling woman" which makes the things she did with Rock far more concerning at the start of chapter 3. The soul (Kaede) has a conversation with Rock, he is told what the hell is going on. Kaede remarks on how she's cute (how sweet) and how she has a big rack and knowing what he does now he wants to be eaten, (What the hell?)

And Kaede wants to confess his feelings, Ron says "wait, what the fuck are you doing" as Rock decides to help him prepare for the confession (I mean I'm all for this funny idea, but what is going on here?). The three meet up with Dead, Kaede confesses and Dead receives so much second hand embarrassment she decides to leave. Rock asks for Dead to listen to Kaede, how his face changed because of love. Dead finds out Kaede was a girl.

But then Kaede breaks down saying this won't work because she's a girl. It turns out Kaede in life was rejected leading to this mindset. (Also Kaede's crush in life has a striking resemblance to Dead). Dead then gets the treatment of an anime figurine when jars are involved. Kaede forces Dead to say that she loves her if she wants to be saved. Dead struggles to breathe in what I want to believe is water, before escaping. Rock says "hey this isn't right" and Kaede the "nice guy, (or gal in this instance)" says "Rock is getting in the way of their love fights.

Dead gets defensive of "her rock" (who may I remind you is a teenager and Dead is not). Dead then lectures Kaede saying "look dude it's not that I'm homophobic or anything, you've just been kind of one-sided in this whole thing without giving me time to think it over". Which in hindsight despite Dead being gross to Rock, this chapter is kind of... good? Like as a lesson to why "nice guys", incels and femcels are gross and why they are wrong.

Kaede then realizes what she did was wrong and wants to get to know Dead better and that she truly does love Dead. Dead laughs, she says "she's never gotten around to answer your feelings towards me", thanks Kaede for putting in so much thought for her and they kiss.

So anyways Dead eats Kaede's soul. Ron gets rightfully pissed as Rock is like "man I wonder if anyone loves me that way too." Next chapter Ron and Rock get a briefing. Ron notices something is up with Rock, before they two stumble across Ram. Ram tells Rock that Black Shooters are usually dolls which don't have souls; however, Rock seems to be nurturing her own ego and the she has high expectations of her. Later on Rock wants to remember who she was before, but Ron scolds her as hopes and dreams don't matter in Hazama, their job doesn't allow for this, Ron ends the conversation there.

The two enter a mansion and a voice tells Rock "wow you're cute, you must be 15 years old" (which makes Dead's treatment of Rock even more creepy). The voice keeps measuring and documenting features of Rock. Rock calls them out as a fucking pervert, but the voice offers Rock what she wants most. Rock requests to recall who she was and the voice obliges.Turns out this is an attempt at hypnosis which Ron tries to stop, but to no avail.

As the duo are dragged into Rock's memories. And Rock recalled every. Single. Thing. The school she went to, the store she would buy melon bread and dried sardines. Lily, the cat she would feed her food. All of it is clear, save for her name. She is then revealed to have been bullied, as she can't escape. She has been hospitalized, but no one, not even her parents have hope for her. It turns out all of those memories were fake.

And in real world she's struggling and as a pair of hands belonging to voice take her, Ram shows up. The story cuts to a star cracking with a whole wall of stars with a simple message "We're getting minimal response from Black Shooter No. 01451, soul region in crisis." Back to Ram and Rock she ends the chapter saying "How does it feel to have your heart crushed by the truth?" the same thing said to Acta by that mysterious voice, now revealed to have been Ram.

In the next chapter we go back to that wall of stars and inscriptions. With countless messages of various Black Shooter's soul regions being in crisis. Ram requests that the Black Shooters should be reinforced, dolls without a heart are weak, but those with hearts will always be fragile. We see the imagery of a galleries of countless Black Shooters adorned in filly outfits with chained chokers. All with the centerpiece Rock placed on a throne.

There's also a kind of weird and gross image of a naked Rock on the ceiling? (Gross). Then Ram on a whim decides nah you're too weak get destroyed, lemayo. As Rock falls she has self doubts about her identity, but Ron comforts Rock and appears in human form. The two go back to the previously seen hospital bed and it is indeed Rock, and Rock affirms that she is indeed herself and will always be Rock. Ram attacks Rock back in the real world, confused at why Rock wasn't destroyed like the others.

Rock calls on Ron (in his much more friendly noodle form), and Rock answers Ram's question; because, she wants to live. As Ram, Rock and Ron are about to fight Dead shows up calls Rock ripe for some reason making my question if the Black Shooters can hold restraining orders against each other and now she wants to eat Rock as the chapter ends.

We see a man being comforted by a random lady which feels more distracting than a Family Guy cutaway gag. Back to the fight it turns out Ram set this up for Dead and lets Dead have her meal, (manga's words not mine). Rock and Dead fight as one of the Black Shooter creators ask "what they fuck those two dinguses doing down there?", Rock asks why Dead eats souls and Dead answers by saying that "in Hazama that if one clings to their dreams hard enough they become reality, souls are powered by strong emotions and said emotions turn into energy. Once upon a time Dead... wasn't dead, but like alive until she was dead.

She died very suddenly and didn't get to say farewell and lost her ring. Ram then appeared before her told her 'if you eat people who are emotional your dreams will come true', so she's been doing just that in the hopes that Dead is reborn." Ram goes outside of her newly made ruins and the Black Shooter creator from before asks "Ram what the fuck is this? What the fuck is going on? WHY HAVEN'T YOU PAID YOUR GODDAMN TAXES!!!"

Back to the fight Dead and Rock continue fighting, Rock tells Dead to give up cause she doesn't want to be eaten. Dead has flashes of that random man from the start of the chapter. Who can be presumed to be her grieving father? (I think?) Dead charges in a blind rage, and is just... stopped... Ram tells the grown woman to stop trying to eat a 15 year old like a box of crackers, and then she says something truly heinous...

Honestly this is my favorite part in the whole section and I want to dedicate it's own section.

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Ram's Truth of Dead:

Ram: "It's time you stop. In truth it actually was all... a lie. It is true that this world has the power to grant your wishes. But something like resurrection is a bit of an exaggeration; regardless, of whether or not the plate is big or full, water that flows out of the plate will not return to it. And that is why YOU'RE DEAD."

Dead prior to this point was an antagonist, who abused her position of power to exploit the system she worked for. In which causing the suffering of countless souls, not just the ones that cannot be purified any Stagnant Souls she can get her hands on aren't free from being consumed. So seeing Ram, this master manipulator be revealed to having been pulling the strings all along to convincing Dead that there is a way to being reborn.

Why? All for the purpose of watching her reality crumble? What does she gain from this? Nothing else but pure sinister delight. She delights watching Dead realize that all of her efforts were in vain and all of the Stagnant Souls lost to her will never reach Heaven. Dead's efforts, Dead's pursuits of resurrection, Dead's pursuit of reuniting with the people she loved, every Stagnant Souls chance at ascending? All of that is dead.

I never felt Singlove offered anything substantial to her story. She was just a recolor of Stella, but here Ram succeeds where Singlove failed. Ram actually is able to pull the strings and make an impact on not just the lives of her enemies, but also the people she manipulates. Singlove barely shows up at the end and barely does anything, we only hear what she's done instead of seeing it.

This is the moment that made me truly enjoy this story. If it weren't for the uncomfortable choices made in this manga that felt heavily unnecessary this would be a 9.6/10, but I'll settle for an 8.6.

Anyways back to the story.

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Back to the Story:

Dead falls off the bridge everyone is on. Rock tries holding on, but Dead's hand with the rest of her body transforms. She has became a Stagnated Soul. Rock is told despair is the extreme end of hope, and that stagnation is the residue of greed. She is given a choice to save Dead, or to leave her be. She says "no", but is ordered to terminate Dead. Ram and the others are forced to gather their forces to terminate the Stagnated Soul.

Dead happens to get past most of the Black Shooters, and when Rock shows resistance in a near instance Dead bites Rock's neck. During all of this Dead's body fights in the hopes of a "key" to a "house" possibly being her freedom. When Rock speaks to her once Dead realizes she hasn't found this "key" she tells Dead that despite being forceful, noisy and selfish she doesn't want her to disappear.

The stagnation of Dead partially reverts and regains her senses, as she recalls her morning routine in life. Spending her days with "him", but now she can't go back. She could never go back. She explains that if she acknowledges that fact and her emotions. She will have truly died, a life without her wishes being granted isn't a life at all. She charges to Rock, only to embrace in a hug, knowing fully well Rock's blade will have stabbed Dead. She accepts her fate, to Rock's dismay.

She's ready to move on, to finally see "him" again. When Rock gets worried Dead tells her she isn't going anywhere, she will always be with Rock. Dead finally passes on, leaving only her Stagnant Soul, in which Rock consumes. Crying tears not from her own, but rather Dead's tears (that's a bit dumb, but everything else is good). Ram appears to say that emotions are like flowers never meant to bloom.

She came to the realization that she was in truth the very first Black Shooter, the very first Black Star. What I failed to mention earlier all of this took place in a crevice in which it is "contrary to life itself" and once in, no one can get out. Back to the present Ram says she's also... "In this place without time the one who continues to stand above those who come to this foolish world, and the one who return this crevice into nothingness." Rock fully realizing Ram's intentions to stand above those she finds foolish and weak refuses to allow her to toy with the emotions of others.

And then tears up her outfit to resemble her main design, (It is indeed absolute cinema and very cool, but kind of out of nowhere, but I digress, I'll let the hype moment be).

Final chapter time, we're in the end game now. The Threshold the final place of battle, between Heaven and Earth. Having been weighed down of desires of those who left Earth, a world of illusion and desire. A desecrated place, drenched in greed Ram hopes for this threshold, Hazama to be destroyed, she hopes Rock agrees with her.

The two begin to fight, Ram didn't want Rock to repair herself, she wants both her and the filth of the world to be gone. Rock fails at taking down the nigh endless black orbs, before one captures her. Ram intended to kill Rock without resorting to her suffering all for Ram's experiment. Rock asks what said experiment and Ram explains that she awoke in the threshold.

Everything had been sealed off, when she died the weight of her karma was greater, she asked herself questions. In this world what does it mean to hope, to dream? From there she created the Black Stars from Stagnant Souls, she her herself had been bound to her desires hunting similar souls to her. All of this a process to figure out what was laid out at the end of everyone's prayers, could hopes and desires bring change to the threshold?

At the end of all of this Ram figured out that the threshold would not yield, it was static. In the end this philosophy, the queries, the Black Stars and the hunting of Stagnant Souls was all worthless, this experiment was worthless. Ram concluded that hope was a force of habit, she believes hope leads to despair: a stench of death filling up the world. "To hope is impudent," and Rock disagrees.

Ram disregards this notion stating that Rock is dead. Rock declares her hopes live on as she escapes and strikes Ram's head. Rock then gets a full direct view of Ram's thoughts and mind. With Ram saying "vanish" over and over with a lone figure wanting to be found, but before Rock can do that Ram forces her out of her head, and is about to finish off Rock, but then Ron sacrifices himself. Ram takes delight in Rock's suffering enacting her demise.

Ron, injured, laments on how ironic it is that in a world where hope turns into strength, it be destroyed by the strength in hope. Rock denies this notion, believing Ram's hope (the lone figure in Ram's mind), her true desire isn't to destroy the threshold. She states everyone may be self-centered, but that is due to them being alone, a desire to have someone by their side. That's why Rock wants to become a star nestled to Ron's soul, that's what she desires and asks Ron.

Ron gets his hopes back and seems to recover. The two go back to face off against Ram. (I guess Ram left the two on their own, knowing their efforts are futile? I think that's what I'm supposed to takeaway). Rock using the power of all of the souls in her journey, and all of their unique aspects, including her own hope to protect the threshold.

Ram gets shot by the big fucking guns and is confused as to why Rock would protect a world with brazen desires. Rock answers saying that the Threshold is a world that can grant unfulfilled wishes, such being the province of the flawed Stagnant Souls. On one hand they are selfish, truthful, pure and dishonest, but their desires are anything but "Stagnant". Whether black, white or spotted they are an innocent soul. Rock asks if Ram's hopes are innocent.

Ram denies the concept citing her hope is the destruction of the threshold. Rock gives a counterpoint: in the depths of her heart, is her true desire. She created the Black Stars and gave Dead a call to action because she wanted to find egotistic people who would pay attention to Ram. Ram denies it, Rock asks if she's lonely and Ram hesitates. Rock says she'll find someone for Ram and that they don't need to fight.

The fight ends with Rock asking for Ram's desire. We cut to Rock and Ron finding a firefly and seeing the figure within Ram from before saying their desire "is to glow". Rock reassure the figure that they will be able to as the whole area glows with the light of many other fireflies. The figure thanks them, as the two are enveloped by Ram's glow.

The only thing left is the Threshold, it becomes filled with the hopes and desires of the incoming souls. Now becoming a place where their hopes can be realized, Fin.

Now with the story concluded time for my thoughts.

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Final Thoughts:

So Imma make this brief. I've been experimenting with this format of review and I don't think I've been liking how I've presented these. Moving on I enjoyed the story, the pace took some time to getting used to, but I got around to it eventually until the ending. Prior the pace was brisk, but it was somewhat of a blitz by the end. It took me a while to get caught up on what's going on. Although I still think it's far better than what I experienced in my review of Black★Rock Shooter: The Game The Manga.

I found the characters to be pretty strong. Even Ram who while I didn't quite grasp as a tangible villain, I still very much preferred her to Singlove. The gross aspects this time around were better, not good, not okay, just... better. I mean it's not better by a wide margin, but I am more grossed out by the sexualization of a little girl than a teenager, but that line is very thin. Speaking of which I felt Dead's character suffered a bit from her being a bit gross towards Rock, when she's clearly an adult.

I mean it is better than the translator nicknaming a character Lolicol, but I digress. I already mentioned how the art is great, but let me go back to what I promised way back when. I'll probably go more in-depth in a later review of Black★Rock Shooter, but I find Rock/ Black★Rock Shooter / Stella / (we're not doing this bit again), I find each instance of Black★Rock Shooter to have very differently executions of the design.

Now to you who is reading this review, you may be asking "like how my dude it's the same design save for the dress in Innocent Soul", and you would be right, except for the storytelling in the design. So far my least favorite interpretation of the design was in The Manga The Game; because, bit coat, bikini top and shorts don't tell me about a little girl robot soldier. And it just continues making me uncomfortable. Now while the dress in Innocent Soul does solve this issue, I'm just not big with the style of dress, but that's more of my taste in dresses.

Then we have the 2012 anime, which I think is the best interpretation of the design from a story standpoint. Now I watched the show a long time ago, and only remember bits and pieces, but from what I remembered and from one of my buds who is an expert on the series I will explain why. From what I recall the other selves sexualized designs are moreso a result of what the girls envision themselves as adults from the beauty standards of society.

Now I don't want to be the guy who is like "actually Sandra-chan's boob hole actually symbolizes the milk of kindness in Shakespeare-", I would never be that stupid, but in concept I think that's actually kind of cool? I mean for a series that has been about the aspcets of humanity, from hopes, from dreams, to desires, to pursuits and various other parts of the heart, mind and soul. I really enjoy the idea that this is what kids envision beauty is a frail thin petite youthful girl who shows off her physique. It could be interpreted as a meta-commentary on real world beauty standards and how toxic the culture around beauty really can be.

Now I must confess that I cannot confirm the validity of this claim whether or not that is intentional or not, but I think that if that were the case it would be cool. Sure I don't think B★RS's design fully reflects that concept 100%, but I think it's an interesting thought; however, it does make it clear it could only really work in that concept; because, we would get a little girl or a teenager dressed like that for no real reason other than the writer's poorly disguised fetish.

Which that I can see being the original intention and the 2012's anime's explanation being a way to better justify it.

Moving on in this barely structured conclusion I know about how Sans Undertale's flaming blue eye was inspired by Black★Rock Shooter, I dunno if it was ever confirmed. I also found aspects and ideas that correlate to Undertale and Delatrune in this manga, but I feel those are coincidences if anything. I wanted to mention this somewhere, but didn't have a better place to say it so I'm saying it here.

I dunno, I really like this series, in spite of it's flaws. Black★Rock Shooter will always be the Shadow to Hatsune Miku's Sonic. (Sorry I don't know how else to end this),

Final score is 8.8/10.

Goodnight Hazama!

So when I looked up the various Black★Rock Shooter manga and anime here. Which stemmed from me first watching the 2012 anime. Which stemmed from Ace telling me about it in a local Walmart. Describing her as "edgy Hatsune Miku with guns" I liked the idea mainly due to me thinking how campy it could be.

What I got was a very introspective and deep anime. Albeit so confusing I promised myself to rewatch the show and write an analysis which will come someday. Now the only other two things I knew about Black Rock Shooter was Dawn Fall the 2022 anime and the opening theme which if I recall correctly is sung by the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid. Which cemented Black Rock Miku as a Miku variant in my heart.

And then I found a sleuth of various manga which lead me to this. Black★Rock Shooter The Game, which has not just a very confusing naming convention, but also a very confusing plot. I liked the aspects of the plot for what I could've gathered, until I didn't. Which would be around... 20% of the manga. The plot is very different from the 2012 anime I've seen.

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The plot:

It's a grim dark setting where aliens came down and wiped out nearly all of humanity. Humanity awakens a human weapon little girl (with a sexualized design I was somewhat questioned by in the anime, but outright uncomfortable as she's stated to be a little girl in this manga) who can fight back against the aliens, some of the aliens who serve a queen rebel and everyone gets wiped.

Including the blonde guy (Rothicol, I think?) who had a romantic interest in the titular Black★Rock Shooter herself. Also known as Gray who is also known as Stella. (Totally not confusing). The only survivor being three of the final aliens and Stella who is taken back by someone known as Nana Gray. Let me repeat that a character known as Gray is taken under the care of another character of Nana Gray, (This is on the same level as Kingdom hearts naming conventions).

Nana Gray puts Black★Rock Shooter / Stella / Gray in a device that allows her to reveal her forgotten memories. And we learn that Stella and Nana Gray are a part of a race of artificial weapons known as Grays. And how they were basically heroes. Think Warhammer 40K Space Marines and the Imperium of Man. Now get that thought out of your head as it turns out Nana Gray had to fight Stella who was just killing people and she reveals "nah but like actually you're clones, you're basically bargaining chips for the aliens" for something called "Nebladeing (Something we heard countless times and are only explained ___), basically all of the other Grays including Nana Gray were the failed creations of one scientist and Stella is the only REAL success.

You got all that? (Oh by the way that little info dump is in like three pages).

Now Nana Gray reflecting after having given Stella her memories back vows vengeance. She also reveals that vat won't give Stella her memories instead she's be and I quote "completely white. You'll be Sing Love."

Next chapter we see Black★Rock Shooter / Stella / Gray / Sing Love, along with the other aliens (and more humans?). Stella is now in a position of political power? And Dr. Gibson said that "when I first met you. I thought you were a devil here to destroy us," so is she now the ruler of the aliens? Also why do the aliens look so human? If they're not the humans then what is this dude talking about? Dr. Gibson shows her the clones compares himself as the father and her the mother. Stella says "I want to eat them"

Then she's like "spare all of the humans", Dr. Gibson stops her from eating the clones? Which I guess implied she was gonna feed off of the clones instead? But for some reason this might just be a memory wipe or maybe not?? And some dude is fucking up the process is called "that 'black' bitch" (if I didn't know better that sounds kind of racist) and says "I'm here to avenge Mefe", you know that one off villain who just died due to being a cocky bitch?

Turns out she was just implanting Sing Song's memories into Stella and said "you were only loved by Papa", but we saw Stella as one of the clones of Sing Song so that can't be true. But it turns out Papa loved them all. Which lines up with the memory of wanting to protect all of the clones, and stopping Sing Love's Anakin Youngling slaughter enactment. But how would Nana Gray not realize that was the case if she A: had access to a pod that could implant Sing Love's memories, B: implant Sing Love's memories into subjects and have access to that memory and presumably her memory in general.

If she saw the memory beforehand why wouldn't she question Dr. Gibson protecting all of the clones? Did she just assume he did it just to protect ONE of them? And if she didn't see the memory what bad do she think she could do by implanting Sing Love's memories into Stella. She mentioned removing the combat capabilities, but she was basically gambling and hoping that Sing Love was a docile and helpless person which wasn't the case as she proved to be a threat against the clones.

Okay so after Nana Gray denies the truth and does a "from my perspective the Jedi are evil" and then suddenly that fuckass dude from earlier barges in says he's Llwo, say he was Mefe's fiance, told off for treason, declare he's going to take revenge and kill Nana Gray for the hell of it. We cut back to the real Sing Love who says "aw screw wipe all life off the planet", which wasn't their intentions before? I mean they already had been feeding off the majority why didn't they just say "to hell with it, we assimilated enough humans."

Back to the fight after Stella got thrown into a wall after being clothes beamed from a Dragon Ball character off-screen, Llwo says "fight back", and Stella has a depressive episode and I get tired of this steaming pile of melodrama. She says sorry and Llwo just uses the r slur for some reason. Llwo takes Nana Gray as hostage, Stella says something about the Mefi inside her and Llwo just gives up.

That is until everyone witnesses a big ass space ship using the power of the fucking moon is preparing to snipe the goddamn earth. Then using a natural 20 in persuasion Stella convince alien robot girl to goes up to the elevator leading up the to the moon laser thing. Then alien robot girl betrays Stella and Nana Gray for reasons. Then they fight and after beating up Xnfe (which Elon Musk happens to call his kitchen utensils) and Stella rolls another natural 20 in persuasion and gets Xnfe to help again.

Then Nana Gray sacrifices herself to save Stella by throwing her into an escape pod. Which is utterly pointless as she either goes back to Earth and if Nana Gray fails Stella still dies. Or Stella is just stuck in bast open field of space. Anyways now Sing Love / White looks like Stella but with white clothes and hair. Somehow Stella makes it back up to fight White. And the two fight in a fight scene that I actually happen to like. And the ending was confusing I couldn't get a good read other than White lost and some other alien said "Yo, Stella you won."

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Thoughts:

The pacing is a bit too quick for my tastes without the reader being able to properly grasp the world or information before the next thing happens. I don't like the Rothicol and Stella romantic stuff in Acts 1 and 2. It feels gross that even the translated version of the manga I read gave him the nickname "Lolicol". Even the translator didn't like it.

Another thing I disliked was this one character whose name I forgot as he just dies. And it is not clear who killed him. But it wasn't the Stella, so I can only assume his teammates got tired of his shit. And he would make constant references to books and musicians? And call himself a director and had very muddled motifs to the point where he was gonna do his special move called "Big Snipe", but apparently because he was monologing so long about his director fantasy he just fails? And dies?

I'm sure I would get more context and out of this manga if I emulate the actual Black★Rock Shooter The Game itself. But it is a fact that you shouldn't have to look to external media to explain your story. If I watch a movie I should be able to understand the plot without needing to having read a book beforehand. Also for some reason there's this plot point which is even more gross. So you know how Stella is a little girl right? Well she's called a BREEDER for some reason and how there's emphasis on how low the population of the world is they need more women to boost the population and make it a plot point. I know it's not exactly saying that this little girl is required to you know... but I'm still weirded out on how it was mentioned.

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Conclusion:

So I think the pacing could be a bit better. Things could be a bit less confusing. Less of that gross pedophilic crap. I do not want a story where a character gets the nickname "Lolicol" or to hear weird breeding implications with a little girl. No thank you. The art is good. It wasn't as edgy as I assumed, but still much so. It had aspects of the stuff I liked about the anime, but the execution wasn't the best.

I'd give this show a 3.2/10.

Notes: To clear up any confusion that any people may have, no this is not a review of the whole series. Nor is it a review of the whole franchise that is Spy X Family. This is strictly a review of Season 1 of Spy X Family. I didn't think I would have to clarify this, but just to ensure there's no CLOWNS who be goofing it up.

This review was also made during my first few weeks of college. Which may be confusing to some if you recall my announce of limiting my time on my socials. I felt that I should write down this review so I can get my thoughts out there while my opinion of this show was fresh and new. So I apologize to any of you who feel I lied about taking a bit of a break to figure some stuff out.

I will also link my other reviews to next seasons of Spy X Family once they are written down. So that you as a reader are able to easily continue reading about my thoughts and opinions regarding this show. I may or may not also be covering that movie that came out, but we will see.

With all of that out of the way I hope you enjoy this review.

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The Actual Review: I love Spy X Family. In an era where modern films and movies that are more mainstream seem to suffer from a collective drought. A constant nauseating stream of meta humor that detracts from the story a piece of media wants to tell all for a lame pun at their audience or anyone taking their plot seriously. Where big celebrity actors are chosen over actors with genuine talent and heart who would fit their characters better than a bunch of bigshots hired for the sole purpose of their stardom.

And at first I was a bit... scared of Spy X Family. Only slightly, while I heard amazing things about this show parts of me had some doubts. A show about a family composed of a spy, assassin and telepathic girl with comedy elements sounded like an amazing premise.

But I felt like due to the climate of modern fiction and writing a show like this would crack under the pressure. Like a serpent eating its own tail I feared that this show would have wasted opportunities to have genuine profound moments and fail to take itself seriously in a sea of vile meta humor.

But it wasn't that. It had heart, it had soul. It was able to take itself seriously. There were moments were the show genuinely impressed me like how Anya using her telepathic powers could incite frustrating conflict that feels forced. That's what a lesser show would do. Or how Loid's spy agency could get him all of these resources could easily solve the conflict and that it would go unmentioned. That's what a lesser show would do. But Spy X Family doesn't do that.

It feels like every character commits to actions that are in line of what their character would do. Instead of being used to incite pointless conflict that the plot demands. Like in a different show I would imagine that Anya's telepathic powers would result in her being treated more as a plot device than a character. Like when she saved that kid drowning in the pool.

But this show takes a different approach. Anya only saved that boy in order to do her best to impress her father due to her understanding that she needs to do her best in order to further her fathers goals and thus ensuring her success. Her motivations are to the benefit of Loid's goals the same goes for Yor with her wanting to maintain appearances and do her best to keep up the illusion of a healthy and true family in order for her to continue her work as an assassin.

I would argue that Anya's telepathic powers don't make her a plot device for the other characters to use. Rather I feel she's given agency because of it. With it she's able to understand her parents motives and is thus able to act accordingly to assist them due to it benefiting her as well. I also appreciate how the characters are people rather than paragons of strength or talent. Loid is very skilled at infiltration, stealth, combat and very intelligent he can come off as cold and disjointed, he does mean well, but he does falter, he isn't versed in raising a daughter or being a part of a family. He also happens to overwork himself to the point of near exhaustion.

Yor while very strong and precise when it comes to assassinations is an anxious wreck. Her confidence isn't 100% stable and can falter when she feels she fails in someone's expectations. Anya is very determined and is able to use her telepathic powers to nudge her parents in the right direction. She can also get a better understanding of people's intentions and motivations; however, she isn't that intelligent, isn't physically strong and can be intimidated under certain circumstances. She also is just like a kid... Like she's in the first grade she isn't ultra capable and perfect, but she isn't frustratingly incompetent or obnoxious.

Some last things I want to mention before I end this. The animation and art style looks amazing. The comedy is also really nice and the show really knows how to balance its comedy and its more emotional moments. The worldbuilding is really good and convincing. Finally this show is just so gosh darn wholesome. Like I get this warm feeling in my body when I watch this show and everything feels like its okay. It's comforting and I love the show for that.

9.5/10.

See you in the next review in Season 2 Season 1.5. Until then Goodnight Westopolis.

Disclaimer: This review not only has swearing so it not for kids (duh), but also this review was made only when Chapter 23, Volume 5 was out. So things (like this review are subject to change. Also spoilers, duh).

I... HATE Isekais. I hate the formulaic structure. I hate the tropes and trappings that at best are generic and boring and at worst gross and disgusting. I hate the degenerate protagonists. I hate the writer's poorly disguised fetish. I hate the fact that isekais compose of a large majority of modern anime.

I hate the generic anime. I hate how 12 episodes are pumped out just for a quick cash grab with nothing of substance behind it. I hate the justification of slavery in most isekais. I hate how perverted the virgin protagonists are. I hate how every single one the main character gets a fucking harem.

I hate how gimmicky all of them are nowadays. I hate the overtly long titles.I hate the melodramatic premise where everyone hates the MC because he has the loser power but actually NO! It's OP as shit. And the protagonist is gonna beat the demon with the power of crushing his enemies' testicles.

With all that said I want to make another confession... I like RTA Sousha wa Game Sekai kara Kaerarenai. (Damn it could really use a shorter title). This manga isn't amazing or anything, but it's really great for what it is. It's a neat little subversion of the isekai genre and is able to tell a unique story.

All without falling into the same pitfalls and expectations proposed by the stale competition. This manga has quite a few things to talk about so how about we talk about...

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The Art and Character Designs: The art in this manga looks absolutely beautiful. Sure that's a given when it comes to most manga. But it really shines here with each and every panel having love, care and effort put into it. And I feel that they elevate another important aspect to this manga's story and characters.

The character designs. Now I will confess not everyone is a winner. Nor do any of them really enhance anyone's character with a few notable exceptions. I moreso believe that these designs are meant to emphasize a "rule of cool" attitude. But there are some examples which I feel use their designs to the fullest.

But before into that let's discuss why character design is important. A character's personality can be inscribed through spoken manner, but that is far less effective than the show don't tell method. It's always more important to show us why something is the way it is versus that it is. Let me share an example.

"There is a scary cloaked lady over there!" Versus... after the dust from the falling debris and rubble clears a figure appears before you. She is elongated with a slight hunch with lanky arms and legs. She towers above you wrapped in a crimson cloak tattered at its edges with several stitches across its rough surface. Her face concealed under her thick hood. You get a glimpse of her body underneath the torso her form is malnourished and skinny with her only article of clothing is the weather and aged bandages wrapped around her body, arms and legs.

This feels important to me due to instead of telling the audience that they should feel a certain way that showing them something allows them to grant them breathing room to form their own opinions, but you gave them an impression which leans closer to the reaction you want out of them. Which leads to them understanding the concept and idea you present them instead of lazily telling them what it is.

Now let me use an example for great character design. That being Nemesis from Resident Evil 3. Now most of the information I've gathered was through Pastra's video essay on Nemesis which you should check out if you have the time. He has more insight and knowledge when it comes to Nemesis and character design than I could ever have.

But to paraphrase the idea behind Nemesis was not to be another generic zombie, but rather an intelligent and composed hunter. One deliberately created with the sole purpose of killing the members of S.T.A.R.S. And his design executes that idea amazingly. His sleek trench coat and weapon he usually carries with him tells us how more intelligent. And even the stitching around his face shows us that he was being worked on and created. Even his second form reflects the damage done to his throughout the game and his final form instead of being a grandiose final boss is instead a culmination of the damage we've done to this once relentless and determined killer, having now been reduced to a wounded limping animal.

That's why character design is important. It can not only tell us insights into the characters from a mere glance, but also tells us a deeper narrative than there is at the surface level. With all of that done let's get into the meat and potatoes of these characters. I will also try only focusing on the main designs for the characters.

Eida-hime :her outfit is very elegant and refined with the elaborate pattern on her large sleeves depicts her as something akin to a priestess, but also nobility. 8.4/10.

Daanya: She's a cute cat-girl. She's got typical adventurer garb and that's about it. 8/10.

The Demon-King Apocalypse: He looks spooky and intimidating. 7.9/10.

Shachiku: His outfit looks nice, typical high fantasy gear, not bad, but nothing special. Not a big fan of the cyan hair. But better than just black eyes and black hair. 7/10.

Kiira: She probably has... the worst design. It's just bright bikini armor with a tie. It doesn't really show us any insights into her character other than she fights in armor (albeit really skimpy armor) and I guess is a professional because of the tie?? The headdress looks cool. But not enough to save this design, which sucks cause Kiira is pretty cool. She also has fucking high heels while wearing armor?! WHY!? 1/10.

Morphomet: She's a bit malnourished, got a weird demonic eye going on, ram horn(s), a black hollowed out eye, bones around the neckpiece of her outfit, thick fur collar, and spiked gloves and boots. A spooky little tiara. And a seperated top and bottom that is a bit revealing. I dunno there's a lot I like about her design like the visible ribs and slight malnourished look could play into how decayed and withered she is, but then there's some conflicting stuff. 5/10.

Raspi: Our (possibly) non-binary representation, they're okay... Nothing sticks out at me strongly. The mouth tongue underneath the zipper looks freaky. I dunno what I get out of this design. I don't really feel anything strong about it. I guess they look like a youngster? Which does fit with their attitude during their introduction scene with the rest of the elite four.

Brams: On the otherhand Duke Brams is amazing. He pulls from not just Victorian gothic attire, but also heavily from Dracula and other vampires from media. With the white collar shirt underneath the black cloak with that flowing hair. He comes off as suave, charismatic, refined and composed. But his beard and mustache tells us he's an older gentlemen. GOD HE'S SO HOT-!!! 8.7/10.

Now my astute reader you may have noticed I went in order of each and every one of these characters' appearances; however, with one exception... Queen Arachne... WELL-

The Part Where They Talk About Arachne:

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I really like Arachne. Like I love her so freaking much. She's so pretty, but also a horrible murderer, but she's too cute to be held accountable. :3

She in my opinion is the most effective and interesting villain in this entire manga. I want to take the time I have here to discuss not only why her design works on an objective level, but how that ties into her character and thus elevates it.

Arachne's story is that she is one of the elite four. A council of greater demons who served under the Demon King: Apocalypse. Arachne being the queen of her domain of spiders. And sometime 50 years ago decimated a thriving village. She was rumored to kidnap beautiful girls and make them her puppets to make use of their hidden skills gifted by the goddess. All so she can consume their power. And on one fateful day found a pair of sisters: Noran and Loran.

She found Loran to be useless and thrown her to the pile of others who lacked talents; however, this awoke an ability in Loran from this tramua, the ability to detect demons. But Noran was unlucky as she was found to be suitable to become the next host body and was consumed in front of her sister's eyes. After this much isn't known other than that Loran was able to flee and that over said 50 years Noran had been preserved and maintained as Arachne used her body as a suitable humanoid form. Alongside feeding from her body, abusing her body for selfish power.

Back to the present I believe her design elevates the idea that Arachne preserved and adorned this body in garb whilst wielding power. The idea that Noran, this human being who once had a life is nothing more than clothing to her, nothing more than a puppet to masquerade as someone long dead. Someone so detached to Arachne she practically abuses this corpse.

Arachne's design is beautifully grim. She wears a mix of a Victorian and Gothic aesthetic. That is seen across her ball gown dress, gloves, sleeves, collar, boots and the headdress that is the spider that controls this body. With various segments of clothing being composed of web as if Noran was merely a fly in Arachne's web. Another thing I once took for granted is how expressive Arachne is. While yes this is a manga with an anime art style with a lot of expressive faces I find it interesting for the case of Arachne.

Parts of me also believe that this idea was also intentional. Arachne must've had this host body for a long time 50 years and become adept at controlling her motions. To the point her face can twist and contort to reflect this monster's feelings. This idea becomes especially clear during specific panels. Panels in which her sharp pointed teeth display a sinister smile. Her hollowed out eyes highlighting how depraved and manic she truly is.

She never was the elegant and beautiful queen she presents herself as. Deep down she's a selfish power hungry monster. Even when composed that facade is in shambles. As if she's struggling to preserve this crumbling body she's held onto for 50 years. The black void of eyes devoid of any compassion or empathy. And the spider atop her head feeding off of the body she puppeteers.

And how is her injustice treated? She is utterly and completely humiliated. After conspiring against her fellow elite four due to jealousy and spite. Her over 50 years of malice, suffering and sadistic joys she took over the years finally catches up with her. As she dies alone...

THEN SHE DIES TO COINS! :D

Also I tricked you! I didn't just want to talk about Arachne due to how pretty she is and how compelling she was, but also to bridge the gap between the character designs and the...

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Writing: Imma make this brief cause I just spent up all of my energy talking about the best villain in this series. So let's get down to it.

I really like how speed running is portrayed in this manga. It would get annoying and cluttered if the whole fantasy world knew about it, but they don't which leads into some funny moments. I also like it due to how accurate it is. From my research and experiences speed running most of this was right on the money. I find Shachiku's love for Anverse and speedrunning compelling for just how genuine it sounds. That passion is admirable.

Although sometimes it CAN be a bit too much. I also appreciate that Shachiku isn't a total degenerate. At least for the most part. Like he acknowledges how weird Kiira's sexually charged design is and apologies to her after complimenting her due to him thinking he made her uncomfortable. However it did lead me to think they passed on the degeneracy to Ain. Which lead to me not really liking him

Sure Ain does have his moments, but he didn't really grab me and his moments of being a pervert kind of took away from his character. I also really like Kiira and Ada (Daanya)'s relationship. With Kiira wanting to seek retribution and justice for the abuse her childhood best friend went through. I couldn't really care for Raspi. On the opposite end I have a lot of fun with Duke Brams. You know how I feel for Arachne. Morphomet is... fine... I guess... But it isn't fair to judge that much, she didn't her chance to shine yet.

The worldbuilding is good. Like this manga is very conniving in not just the idea that this is a living, breathing fantasy world, but also that this is a complex and interwoven videogame. Which is a notable feat for the writer(s), props to them. The comedy is also on-point. Sure it is a bit hit-or-miss but there is some fun concepts that the manga gets to mess with. And when it does that it feels like its in its element.

Also an appreciation. Now this isn't exclusive to isekai anime/manga, nor this is exclusive to the medium as a whole. It's a problem of media itself where women are more commonly sexualized then men. And while I don't think this manga solved it exactly perfectly I think it did a good enough job. I mean there's just parts where the mc just strips down. And there is the existence of Ada he's hot, but then again he's a perverted douche.

Although I will admit that more female characters are sexualized than the male one ones, but I think there's something to note here. That "hey why can't we do the same to men?". And I believe that either there should be zero sexualization between men and women or that if there has to be sexualization it should be equal.

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Conclusion: Final thoughts. I feel like I covered most of what I wanted to say. Apologies that this review is WAAAY longer than most. Sorry this felt not as organized as some of my other stuff. There might be a few mistakes in the review here and there. But I'm done for now. I might make some changes if there's stuff that obviously wrong pointed out by you.

Feedback is wanted and appreciated. Goodnight Iono nation and have a lovely day.

So... Gyaru and Cthulhu or Gal to Cthullhu by some. (I know it as the first rather than the latter).

I liked this manga. Or light novel. Whichever correct terminology is appropriate here. (I don't know anything other than big badonkers and how to read from right to left). I liked the story for the most part. I really enjoyed this manga for what it was. I really liked the comedy. I really loved the concept and I really like the art.

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Story and the Funny:__ But that leaves the question of why I like all of this cool stuff... Well... let me explain. First off the premise being that a teenage girl who wants to be an idol using the power of Cthulhu. All while being oblivious to any Eldritch phenomena is such a fun concept to play with. And it perfectly fits into the comedic angle this manga has got going for it.

I will confess by around the third angle where the plot became more serious and the comedy was more uncommon I was losing a bit of interest. Things felt a bit cluttered with all of these moving pieces which the tone, premise and writing couldn't handle 100% perfectly. But that's okay. I would never expect a whole lot out of this manga other than just a fun time. Like for me personally it felt like it was trying to play itself straight when it didn't need to. It was already a pretty comedic story on its own merits. And it felt like it forsake its own identity during certain parts, but luckily it wasn't too drastic of a tone shift.

So that's all well and good. But now that we've discussed the meat to this delicious roasted ham of a manga how about we discuss the presentation?

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Art: It's fucking amazing. Not just the cover art, not just the character designs, but every single panel is amazing looking. The artist is able to perfectly utilize tonal dissonance to great success in making an Eldritch Deity a silly little guy in one panel and then leaning hard into a horror aesthetic in the next.

Also (Cassilda I think? I dunno that's what it told me when I searched up "King in Yellow's" mother, be sure to correct me if I am or am not wrong) is so fucking hot. Oh my god. She's so pretty.

Speaking of said comedy. It is silly. I already mentioned how the premise and art style leans so hard into the comedy. But it really is something else. The jokes do not get lost in translation. Which in it of itself is great. Sure some words could've came out better, but the translator(s) did their homework and ensured every joke is given to the reader on a silver platter. All the characters are also really strong and their well defined personalities also aid the comedy.

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Conclusion:

I really want more media in general innovating on Eldritch horror stuff and messing with it and having fun. And not just manga, games, anime, movies whatever. Something this manga does remind me with it's approach in Eldritch Horror is Sucker for Love which is a parody of a dating sim where you date Eldritch deities. It's really neat and a fun time all around. Anyways with all that said and done I think it's time for this review to end.

8.0/10, Goodnight Necropolis.

Disclaimer: The following is a review of the Exploding Girl manga which features transphobia, sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia and suicide. This review is meant to be an analysis on how this ruins the manga, if you are uncomfortable with such topics turn back now, if not then do continue reading.

So... here we are... the second worst manga I came across. For some context the Exploding Girl is a manga first being published in 2018 and cutting off in 2023, in the second volume. The exploding girl has 54 chapters and two volumes over a five year run before the manga was cancelled. The manga follows Bao Bu Ping a 14 year old boy who lives in a grim-light modern setting like our own where people are exploited, women are assaulted and harassed with no one being able to do anything about it. Until a mascot offers Ping power to fight back.

But in order to do so he needs to become a magical girl with a full transformation and transition into the opposite sex. Ping then saves the girl who is being assaulted, but with less than magical powers using their fists and a brick to fight with explosive power being every strike. After beating the snot out of the thugs a creature appears to which the mascot classifies them as a "Violencia" a magical entity that taps into the worst traits in a human's mind and feeds off of them. The mascot consumes it and grows in power.

After sealing away the Violencia the thugs run away, leaving Ping and the innocent girl alone together, in safety. Before Ping can leave the girl asks for their name. To which Ping calls back to the fact their fighting style was more crude and brutal than the standard magical girl. Ping fought not with magic, but rather explosive energy, so Ping isn't a magical girl, but rather an Explosive Girl and the chapter ends. Now I recapped the first chapter for a very good reason, it's the standard superhero fare.

Main character who has no powers sees the cruelty of the world, wants to do something, can't. Then after a strange event they use their newfound powers to do what they wanted and coming to find their superhero identity. Setting up the premise and setting up the future for new plot-lines. On paper this chapter is fun, and the premise is outlined perfectly here and when I first read it, I enjoyed it. That was until the later chapters that got messy and outright disgusting with the plot.

Only five chapters later Ping fights with another Exploding girl: Lan Mao, a doctor by day, Exploding girl with night, a super genius with a large database on other Exploding girls and Violencia, they suggest they and Ping team up. Which all seems fine and dandy right? That is until the two meet and in the most fanservice scene develops romantic feelings for Ping. The manga makes it clear Ping is 14 and Lan is an adult. And they even go on a romantic date later on. Then call each other sisters ??!

They do drop the romantic "will they won't they?" by the second volume, but it doesn't make it any less gross. They still call each other sisters long after this weird shit happens. At least the manga can't get worse right? Right? The story comes as mishandling the gender identity stuff. The story gets messy with the romantic thoughts with the gender changing stuff and even mishandles queer themes and comes off as, while not entirely actively malicious, definitely harmful and distasteful. At best the story is indifferent as worst, the story is harmful.

And by the end of the first volume and the entire second manga the plot becomes convoluted and confusing. Skipping ahead P Diddy's best friend Lan Mao decides to do the worst choices in the second volume aside from going on a date with a 14 year old, (IT GETS WORSE). So Ping and Lan's relationship is messy (even more so as it is), with Ping risking everything possibly compromising Ping and Lan's identity to save people. Lan decides to cut off all contact with Ping due to them being a liability. Lan is quite secretive as showcased in the date with a minor.

Another Exploding girl (whose been stalking Ping, just cause) possessed by a Violencia is caught and shot down by the police, while Ping wants to save the human left in her, Lan holds her back as they know the police will assume they're associated with the rogue Exploding Girl. In which is a fair assessment, and the story makes it clear that Exploding girls (Especially after this incident) are seen as a threat, with a rock bottom reputation. Which leads us to an arc in volume 2.

Another rogue Exploding girl kidnaps Ping along with other civilians and turns them into Violencia hosts, among them was a girl, Ping escapes with Lan showing up and they take the girl to safety. Now this girl lives a bad life, she's in debt, stalked and harassed by her loan sharks, until... After going out on a trip around town with Ping and Lan (in their gender swapped forms, but not Exploding Girl outfits) the girl returns home to find her father who killed himself. The loan sharks tell her that his inheritance covers the debt and enough for the girl to have left over.

In her moment of emotional vulnerability, a Violencia takes hold of the girl and as Lan and Ping go to check up on her she attacks. They fight until she is cured (by a move, Ping is developing that Lan denoted as not wanting to know about, despite it being a benefit to their cause). The move removes the Violencia, and despite it all the girl decides to end it all by jumping off the roof. Ping causes after her and when they can almost reach her Lan cuts her off, letting the girl fall to her death, (despite the fact Ping could've saved her).

Now on some level this coincides with Lan wanting to stay out of the public eye, but in all fairness if Ping were to save the girl it would be a benefit. Sure the Exploding Girls are "public enemy number one", but this act of heroism could ignore that sentiment and set an example. An example of heroism, being selfless but instead Lan decides to let the girl die for no reason. It's as if Spiderman were to stop Captain America from saving a baby from a building burning as it would draw attention to them. Sounds pretty stupid right? Cause that's what they did here.

And what bothers me is that Lan is still portrayed as this "super-genius" when she/he/they are an asshole! They act within their own self interest and doesn't care about the reputation of other Exploding Girls despite stalking and executing ones that tarnish their reputation as a whole. I personally believe that Lano is one of the worst characters in fiction that I've seen, and with that we're done discussing two of my biggest problems with the story. Moving on, the first volume's translation is awful at best and illegible at worst.

Now when the second volume rolls around what I assume is a new translator shows up. And I see these character making these bizarre phrases with the translator making a note, scrambling to explain stuff. And near the end this weird QnA shows up? It leaves even the translator confused?! Another weird thing is the fourth Exploding Girl that shows up (out of seven) is one who is crueler in her methods, but loves animals, she was tricked and defeated and killed. She was called No. 4 even until her death, until she's revealed to having been alive the whole time.

Even after she was brought back to life her name wasn't revealed until the last four chapters before the manga was cut short. Her name being Haung Huaxing, she goes unnamed for over 20 chapters and her fakeout death. Moving back to another plotpoint Ping is confused after the whole Lan being a bitch situation, Ping's father gives his son $200 (Or Yen whichever one was in the translated version) and told him to have the day to himself.

Ping goes out in their transformed form without the costume. They meet a kid who tries robbing them, but finds out he's a homeless orphan and decides the kid needs the money more than they do. The kid runs off a nice charitable scene, or so we thought... The kid returns with 3 or so men and it's revealed the kid after taking the money after the pickpocket has planted around four wallets on them and lead the men back to them. Not even half a chapter later we learn the kid does this to support his grandmother, but is abused by the landlord!?

And we're supposed to have garnered sympathy for this kid who not even two panels ago screwed over a stranger who done them a good thing. The pacing is so fast for this plotpoint we don't get time to digest all of it, plus the tomfuckery wasn't warranted!!! Eventually the stakes are heightened and the plot gets back on the rails, (kind of?) and we have a lot suspense before the manga gets cut off cause it was canned.

Conclusion: This manga had a fun premise, before being ruined by gross subjects, stupid characters and confusing pacing. It's a shame, but I can't say I enjoyed it, that's why I'm giving the Exploding Girl a 1.7/10.

(Oh yeah I copy pasted this from my rant on Bluesky)

(Also I cannot use a single image cause their image formats suck)

So Kill La Kill is a good show. I liked it. I loved how insane it was. The comedic was fantastic. The animation was really nice. I liked the story for what it was. It wasn't that deep, but it didn't need to be. I had a generally great time while watching this show.

For one of my first exposures to a Shonen anime (disguised as a Lesbian romance) this was a really good introduction in my mind. Although I will confess my experience with anime and manga are very limited, and Shonen anime and manga even more so.

I do have a few problems. Those problems I feel are things that were a bit unnecessary that if removed wouldn't do much to alter the story in a negative way. And would be to the show's benefit for their absence. In order other words some stuff makes me uncomfortable.

First: Ragyo is just so, so, so very gross. Like I mean groping her daughters boobs it just makes me feel gross. I don't like that dude. I don't want to have to put bleach into my eyeballs in my goofy ass show. It also confuses me as to what does it serve for the story? We're already convinced that Ragyo is an insane and maniacal asshole what does making her gross and disgusting towards her daughter serve the story?

Something similar can be applied to Nui. Like I mean she's just... gross and weird. And I do appreciate her unsettling nature, but if another problem of my mine was solved it would make Nui's issues less glaring.

My second issue is how they treat Mako and Ryuko. If you don't know they are both 17 years old. And I don't wanna hear any "culture warriors" say "erm ackshally that's the legal age in CloudCooCooLand which I am not a resident of, but use to justify my loli fetish!" I don't have to like it when minors are sexualized. And I feel like a small inconsequentially change can be applied to the show's benefit (even if the show is over) make the two 18 years old. We already have Satsuki being 18 why not Ryuko and Mako? I doubt it would be seriously change the story drastically and maybe you can maybe make some jokes at Mako and Ryuko's expense about them being held back like by having them be 20 or some shit.

I dunno my feelings on this show are a bit mixed. On the one hand I appreciate the show for the animation, artstyle and the comedy. On the other hand though there's aspects surrounding the whole thing that makes me ask "is this necessary? Would or would not the plot be the same if this were removed? For things that make me (and many other people) uncomfortable that answer would be yes, 100%. And I hold that belief with this show.

I didn't expect it to be amazing, just good and... it is good... Hell there are even aspects were it was really good, even amazing. Like the music is really good. But some of aforementioned issues I and many others have drag this show down.

8.1/10, 9.1/10 (With my changes)