Yu Yu Hakusho is an anime about a teenager who hates authority figures becoming an authority figure to fight other guys and demons who also hate authority figures.

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How To Watch Yu Yu Hakusho ?

1. Watch it in Dub ( I will explain why later )
2. Skip the part of each episode where they talk about the next episode, spoils the next episode smh.
3. Don't watch it slowly, Yu Yu Hakusho's pace is very slow. If you watch it slowly, it starts feeling slower. Just try to binge through it imo.

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Most Of The First 20 Episodes Are Shit

Not The first few episodes about Yusuke's death, I thought those were quite interesting. I mean after that, they take a lot of time to establish these characters and their relationships. The "The Beasts of Maze Castle" is probably the most boring arc in the show, the fights take way too long and the introduction to each character's powers could have been done faster. "Genkai's Tournament" is pretty boring too, I remember I fell asleep watching it. It gets good from the "Rescue Yukina" arc. Also, the first half of the show isn't as good as the second half.

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Too Much Emphasis On The Main Character

The Story focuses on Yusuke's development into a more complex being and watching him become more mature. That's cool, many anime do that but Yu Yu Hakusho has other cool characters apart from Yusuke and I want to see their fights and stories too. Yusuke gets way too much screen time and the other characters deserve more time in the spotlight and fights IMO. Imagine if HxH only showed you Gon's story wouldn't that be boring?

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Art, Animation and Aesthetic is Cool But Feels Very Old & Dated

The Animation and Art-style of Yu Yu Hakusho feels very dated and old. The 1st season's animation isn't that good with awkward character movements and direction but the animation improves over the course of the show and becomes fairly competent over time.

1st Season Later In The Show

It's animation and art style improve a lot over the course of the show becoming more fluid and vibrant. It must have and great back in 90s but in the year 2023, eh it's okay. Animation has improved a lot over the years and compared to today's shonen anime, Yu Yu Hakusho's animation is kinda dull. Even in the 90s, there are anime which are better animated than Yu Yu Hakusho.

I don't hate the show's animation, I just think it is okay. It has some great shots, and few of the fights are really well animated. I did like the 90s vibe of the anime and it felt like I was watching something of the past. It's art-style suits the show quite well and I even saved some screenshots on my pc.

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The Fights

In my experience, the fights were inconsistent. Some Fights followed this "checkmate" format, which goes,

Yusuke meets bad guy -> Talk -> Bad guys beats Yuyuske -> Bad guys beats Yusuke more -> Bad guys beats Yusuke more -> Bad guys beats Yusuke more ->
Yusuke beats bad guys once -> Bad guy dies.
Needless to say, these fights were boring. Many fights in the first half of the show followed such a format combine this with the animation issues I said earlier and it is not very fun.

The fights in the second half of the show are fairly good. There is no strict power system in the show so, most of the time anything goes. This allows a lot of creative freedom in the fights, with people having abilities and powers according to their character and personality. ( like HxH ) Especially, the most important fights in the show were quite good and hype / exciting.

Another plus point is that the fights have gruesome deaths, blood, bones-shattering and are quite violent.

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The Pacing

Yu Yu Hakusho is probably one of the slowest paced show I have ever seen. The plot of Naruto moves faster than the plot of yu yu hakusho. The show could have been skipped or sped up in a lot of parts. The fights take way too long, every fight shouldn't last 1-2 episodes, just end it. A few episodes could have easily been cut and it hurts even the good arcs of the show, dragging the quality of a good arc down. It shouldn't be 112 episodes long.

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A Graph Of My Enjoyment ( lol lol )

I feel a lot of my issues with the show ( the pacing, the fights, the animation ) could be easily fixed, in a modern remake of the show.

Okay I feel spirit guns pointing at me, but look at HxH.

Yu Yu Hakusho was more popular than Hunter x Hunter before 2011. After the remake, Hunter x Hunter is one of the most popular anime ever made. Though the chances of a modern remake of Yu Yu Hakusho is slim, it did get a live action announcement by Netflix though. .

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Okay let me tell you what I enjoyed about the show

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A lot of emphasis on pain

One thing I really liked about the show was the fact that Yusuke ( The MC ) goes through a lot of pain and more pain and more more pain. Every fight was filled with his beatdown, bones breaking and screams from Yusuke. Now it sounds like I am maniac, but in modern shonen anime I feel pain and struggle are being forgotten and fast-forwarded, for eg Jujustu Kaisen's training arc was just the MC watching movies. So whenever Yusuke did win, it felt as it he deserved it considering the pain and struggle he went through in the fight.

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The Characters

The characters in Yu Yu Hakusho are simply outstanding. Each one is fleshed out with depth and development, bringing so much to the show. More than the fights, I enjoyed the time they spent hanging out with each other, they have good chemistry together ( despite the characters being drastically different from Kuwabara's classic chivalry to Kurama's cunning to Hiei's sinister nature ) . I wanted more banter between the characters. The show probably has one of the best "gang" in all of shonen anime. Even the character descriptions on Anilist show the care and detail put into each one.

The female characters are cool but sadly, they don't do much in the story. the romance is okay but it could have been explored more (let's face it, Yusuke wasn't exactly a great boyfriend) . Botan is the best girl . I feel Sakura's personality from Naruto can be made by taking the annoying parts of Botan and the annoying parts of Keiko lol and Botan is Sakura done right tbh. Also, I find it funny that Yusuke's personality is the literal opposite of Gon's personality from HxH lol.

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The Dub Is Great

Yu Yu Hakusho's dub is probably one of the greatest anime dubs ever made. There is swearing and the characters actually talk like real teenagers. You can tell that the dub cast was having a fun time while recording, the show is packed with many great lines and there are just so many good moments because of the dub. I cannot recommend the dub highly enough, please watch it.

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Dark Tournament Arc Is Very Good

1. While some of the fights in the tournament arc of Yu Yu Hakusho may seem predictable, the addition of corruption and cheating within the tournament adds an intriguing element that makes the arc more interesting. The last few fights are epic.

2. Toguro is a cool antagonist. In the beginning, he appears 2D and simple but as the arc goes on, layers are added to him and he eventually becomes a captivating antagonist and 3D.

3. The fights in this arc are very good.

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Chapter Black Arc Also Very Good

1. An arc in which teenagers really do be hanging out with grandma.

2. I like that some of the minions of Sensui get some screen time and personal moments. Giving these minor characters a chance to shine and develop helps to build a more cohesive world and makes the arc feel more fleshed out.

3. While not quite as great as Toguro, Sensui is still a good villain with a compelling backstory and motives.

4. This arc is Yu Yu Hakusho's attempt to be fast-paced and compared to other arcs, this one definitely moves faster than the rest though still at normal pace.

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The Ending

Some ppl say the ending is good, some ppl say it is terrible and some ppl say it's okay. I think it's okay tbh, some complain that it is rushed and "wasted potential '', while others praise it. I agree with both, the end arc could have been great but the author's health was worsening so it had to be completed sooner but the end does have a mature yusuke and a good backstory of Kurama and Hiei so I am not complaining. Ultimately, while the ending may be rushed, the final few episodes are quite good and do a decent job of wrapping up the series.

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Masculinity

Promotes Masculinity

1. Big tough Men
2. Brutal
3. Discipline and Struggle

But Also Promotes

1. Men can feel emotions too
2. Conveying Emotions is important.

The show's portrayal of male characters struggling with their emotions and learning to communicate them is a refreshing and important aspect that promotes healthy masculinity.

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Conclusion

Honestly, I don't feel Yu Yu Hakusho is better than the popular shonen anime we have today, I would recommend you rather watch Hunter x Hunter, Naruto, etc.
I recommend only if you enjoy shonen battle anime a lot / want to experience an older shonen anime.

I know I have spent some time hating the show. I do believe some of the fights were really boring and some parts of the story was badly paced / could be removed / needn't be so long but overall, I feel Yu Yu Hakusho is a shonen anime like no other. An experience like no other, a classic and influential anime that paved the way for many of the popular shonen anime we have today. It has endearing, believable and relatable characters who have wonderful friendships with each other and with nice character depth and feel so different at the end of the show despite being the same people. I don't think Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the best shonen shows I have seen, but it definitely was worth a shot.

I love cat girls. So when I started Reincarnated as a sword ( TenKen ), a manga about a cat girl with a sword I knew I would like it. What I did not expect was, enjoying it a lot and giving it a 10/10. Pet your cat girls and eat your curry, let us discuss Fran and her adventures and why I gave an isekai a 10/10.

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The Bad

I love this manga a lot but for the sake of a review, I must mention the few things I did not like.

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Not The Best Translation

The manga is originally based on a LN and that's why I think the manga has a lot of text. The dialogue is sometimes very long, and there are a lot of descriptions which are normally not seen in a manga. While reading, I sometimes felt that the text could have been cut-short or just skipped entirely.

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( I understand that some people will not bothered by a lot of text and this is a nitpick rather than a criticism )

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Sometimes Questionable Art

The manga sometimes has questionable art ( ecchi ) in it sometimes, but again this is a nitpick because I was only able to dig up 2 pictures like that in the 64 chapters of the manga so far. The Tenken fanbase is not filled with degenerates and their discord server is actually very lovely.

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Lastly,
The story is isekai ( I like to think of it is more like a battle shonen though ) so it does follow a few tropes, the world and the power system from a typical isekai story and I can understand why people might ignore this manga especially considering it's start is a bit slow.

it's actually a old isekai which was started around 2016 i think but it received it's adaption much late but it was actually written at the time when the concept of isekai was fairly new and every isekai was not just copy-pasting each other. Personally, I don't feel the story is held back because of that and with that, let us proceed to the next section.

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The Good

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Fran

Usually anime/manga prefer to have a large cast of main characters, TenKen however only has Fran and her sword as the main leads of the show. This comes with a risk that Fran has to carry the show, does she do it? Fuck Yah, She carries it with one hand. I believe TenKen fully realises the power of a cat-girl character by making Fran not only cute but also fierce. Fran is an amazing character with a lot of depth and development who shows many faces and sides throughout the show.

Fran can be cute but Fran can be fierce too.
Fran is sweet and lovable but Fran can be cold and brutal too .
Fran can seem to be an righteous and emphatic action protagonist but then well, killing any blue cats that she sees.
Fran can be fierce but Fran can be elegant too.
Fran is cool but Fran is wholesome too.
Fran is strong but Fran loses her fights too.
Fran gets help from master but Fran needs her grit too.
Fran can be serious but Fran can be silly too.
( Continued For 7 Pages )

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Great Art

There are two reasons on why a show or book becomes good i.e.

1. Innovative concepts
2. Sincere effort by it's creator

While Tenken has some cool ideas in it, the effort put in by the people behind it is clearly visible. The art of this manga is really very very good. It pushes the story's enjoyment and elevates the story to greater heights bringing life to it's characters. While reading it, I kept downloading it's pages and my gallery was filled with it. It was so good that I even brought a physical copy of the manga ( very expensive in my country :( ) . Let me show you some panels.

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Honestly, tell me the last time you saw a manga artist who bothered to draw a character's sweat during a fight.

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The Many Other Points

I love Tenken mainly for the above reasons. Lettme tell you the other reasons people enjoyed it.

1. The bond between the sword ( master ) and Fran is wholesome.
2. Each Arc is better than the next arc
3. It does not take the route of a normal isekai trash show i.e. no harems or protagonist with no purpose or slavery concept being justified.
4. She is not overpowered.
5. Actual Emotional Moments.
6. Doesn't shy away from brutality.
7. The Fights are fucking lit bro.

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Conclusion

Reincarnated as a sword is an amazing story that has taught me that a well written story and interesting characters is more important than being "unique". I hope if you read the story about the curry loving Fran and her master, you enjoy it as much as I did.

Today I will be talking about a show that hit me different and was quite an unique and interesting watch to me. I initially saw this show because the title "The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat" is very fucking funny to me . What I initially watched as a joke has now became a show that I have seen 3 times and look back on fondly ( it is still kinda a joke though lol lol ). Come child, let me tell you why.

What Makes This Show Special To Me?

I want you to look and think about all the female leads in popular romance anime in this day and age.

The Female leads in romance anime/manga are usually very perfect. Yes, I know I am being hypocritical here because well they are not fully perfect and most of them do have some flaws which makes them human, but I could argue that these flaws are usually very trivial or can actually make them more cute.

There is nothing wrong with that, after all it is a romance . They are gonna be characters who are attractive or perfect. I know there are some romances where the characters are flawed ( for eg. Tsunderes if that counts). But I am going to say that the number of these shows are relatively less compared to the perfect/attractive types.

So, What Makes This Show So Special?

If you ask me that question, I would say the reason I find this show to be interesting and unique is because it has characters who have major flaws in personality and not one or two of them. no no no. All Of Them.
It doesn't shy away from showing their bad sides and it has quite good and interesting writing that I liked a lot. Lastly, despite being a romance ecchi anime ( if ecchi or lolis put you off then I won't recommend this to you lol ) it manages to portray themes like Self-Acceptance and Family quite well.

{ Now You Aren't Gonna Watch This Anime Anyways ( because this season is already packed af ) so why not just continue reading please >: }

Facades And Self-Acceptance

Façade :- a deceptive outward appearance.

I am sure all of us have lived / are living under some kind of facades. Maybe we regretted it or still continue to do so. The first arc of the anime has two characters who are living in facades themselves i.e. These two.

Yokodera ( Our Male Lead ) gives his facades to Azusa Azuki ( the girl ) who actually wants a façade. Now call me an overanalyzing anime reviewer man but I think there is a nice lesson on façade and self acceptance here. Yokodera learns that the lack of his façade of pretending to be not be a pervert was actually helping him. He learns that during the lack of it everyone in his class started to hate him for his actions and he himself couldn't do as much perverted stuff as he used to ( lol ) . What he thought was a part of himself that he needed to get rid of was actually was he needed the most. While Yokodera learns that his façade was actually necessary for him, Azusa learns that her façade was actually hurting her instead of helping her. After being teased and bullied in her past, she thought she must became this incredible and powerful person so that it would not occur again. ( I can relate because I too have been bullied and teased for a short period of 10 years of my life ) . When in reality, she just had to accept herself and be willing to open up to others and be more honest about her own feelings.
` On a side-note, I personally can relate. I had spent my school life with people who constantly teased and ridiculed me for anything I did. I had shut myself and didn't share anything or open up to anyone. It was only after a long time of talking to people in college and understanding myself that I realized that people are not judging everything I did / said and I can actually talk about myself with other people in my life `

Family

I would say the main theme running across the show is Family, it's effects and it's importance which leads us to the discussion of Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi ( Our Female Lead ) and her family. Let us dive in.
Her Family is constant struggle in Tsutsukakushi's life and three whole arcs of the shows are in regard to her family. I would like to talk briefly about each arc. Sacrificing emotions for her sister has always been a thinker for me and I don't think I can understand it properly to this day. Sometimes, I think it is a dumb and stupid mistake on her part and sometimes, I think it was act of great sacrifice and loyalty. I have pondered on the question and thought for a long time and have finally thought of a decent theory ( if I say so myself ) . `Me Thinking ( Yes, I changed my race three times while thinking )` Tsutsukakushi had been fighting with her sister for quite some time which was what lead her to make that wish to the cat god. Having lost her mother in a young age and living separated from her father, she places a really high value on family which was the reason that when she lost her sister's "respect" ( not really ), she was willing to go to such lengths to get her back. ( Also the reason why she didn't care about getting her emotions back as she had already got what she wanted i.e. her sister ). There was also another arc which highlights this aspect of her character really well. That is arc of the storm. What was once a silly wish made on a whim ended up almost destroying her home. The arc also thought her the difference between Yokodera and family. That is despite her feelings of wanting to convert Yokodera into her family, that is simply not possible because in the end of the day he is not and he has his own home. Yokodera explained her to that he wishes that instead of spending every minute of the day together, he prefers some distance because that way things can be more exciting when they meet up and also that they should spend more time together in each other's homes too. Now, I know his speech is very unconventional but It comes from a place of honesty and sincerity which is why I love the way he handled this situation i.e. not by being a epic anime protagonist giving a life changing speech but rather just expressing his feelings. I do love this couple a lot.
Lastly, the final arc of the anime is just very heart-warming and sweet. 10/10. Peak Fiction. Loved it. Small Tsutsukakushi is very Kawaii.

Random Thoughts And Conclusion

This is section is just random shit that came to my mind ( just like all my reviews tbh ). I would like to explain the "characters who have major flaws in personality" point from before. Look at Our Male Lead, Man is degenerate and pervert but he is also a guy who is very kind hearted and helps both Azusa Azuki and Tsutsukakushi with their problems with all he has got. Tsutsukakushi is a girl who has no emotion . Something which is so integral to making a girl "cute" despite that she wished to continue to march forward with her dream of becoming a pre-school teacher and shows a lot of love and respect for her loved ones. ( A similar trend can be seen for the rest of the characters, though they don't get as much time as the main two ) I love this approach because people in real life are not "Black" or "White", all of them have good and bad sides to them. I am glad this show treated it's characters with this approach and it is one of the reasons I look at it fondly. I didn't like the ed during my first watch but on subsequent re-watches I have grown to appreciate it. Very cute, princess-type vibe from this song showing our cute Tsutsukakushi dancing with her emotion-filled form showing the contrast of character between the two of them despite feeling and doing the same thing. It is very kawaii and epic. And that's it folks, The review is over. So is this show the greatest anime ever made? No, it is not. The show is filled with some questionable ecchi moments and some tropes and clichés you might see in a typical romance harem anime ( though personally I don't mind ) which take the show's ratings down.
I wrote that title to bait people into reading this review because unfortunately despite it's good characters and interesting drama, not many people have seen it and this being the anime I have re-watched the most, that makes me sad :(. I will end this review by saying, I wish upon the cat god that if you do decide to watch or re-watch this show, you have a excellent time and have a wonderful day my friend :)

Fire Punch is a story about a man who is set on Fire, his body is always on Fire and his dick is also always on Fire. Throughout his journeys, he meets people because of his Fire and kills people through his Fire. The characters of the manga are Fire and the story of the manga is also very Fire. While reading it, you as a reader are also set on Fire because the manga is just that Fire. In this review, I will be discussing Fire punch and why I think it is Fire.

Yes, I know what a Fire introduction.

I will be including spoilers and comparing it to Chainsaw Man .

The Beauty Of Tatsuki Fujimoto

I am a big fan of Fujimoto, Read most of his works. Very Like, Very Love. His stories are really something special. If he wrote Tokyo Ghoul then I have feeling somewhere along the story, Kaneki would have become a stripper lol. His stories have amazing twists and turns, you would never be able to predict where the plot is going to go and the character development can also be very wild. Despite being bizarre and unexpected, his stories remain realistic with a pinch of fantasy. it's this style of storytelling that has got all the fans talking about him and what makes Fire Punch such a great manga. There are many reasons to love Fujimoto like his god damn addictive storytelling, cinematic manga panels, creative characters and scenarios, the lack of tropes and clichés or all the hot women in chainsaw man..

It Fell Off

I am going to be honest with you guys
For me, the story of Fire Punch falls off after the climax. It's like the story reached its peak and I was only waiting for it to be over. It's a mid-sized segment of the manga btw :(
Experience reading till climax "Oh I love this. I can't wait to see what happens next. This shit is peak fr." Experience after the climax "Okay yah, I guess. Cool idk."
But does this mean the story is mid??? Fucking, Hell N O. The story of the manga up to the climax is legendary. It consists of various themes. thoughts and emotions that are expressed brilliantly in the manga. It is very fucking rare to see an anime/manga take a realistic approach to supernatural shonen action and this manga manages it very well. It contains decent world building showing this decaying and dying world with people struggling and fighting for their dear life, the characters and the art helps to elevate the experience.
Honestly I dare you to find another manga that contains revenge, an apocalyptic world, a cool MC, discrimination, death, love, funny and silly moments, dark and depressing moments, dumb characters, cool characters, war, destruction, family, cool ass action, cool ass dialogue, cool ass emotional moments, cool ass action moments and last but not the least, incest. All within just 83 chapters which doesn't feel rushed, with appropriate pacing and executed beautifully.

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Violence and gore

A bad thing about Fire Punch is that it has a lot of Violence and Gore. A good thing about Fire Punch is that it has a lot of Violence and Gore.

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Not Much Re-Readability

I know many people don't care about the re-readability of this manga, probably because we don't reread much manga anyways but Fujimoto's most popular manga Chainsaw Man has a lot of re-readability. There would be a different experience re-reading chainsaw man experiencing the characters again who are actually present in the manga for more than 10 chapters unlike Fire Punch where most characters die soon and aren't given much screen time and the story depends on it's surprises and twists. I am not saying that you can't enjoy a reread of Fire Punch, the action and story still slaps but I have seen people re-reading Chainsaw Man a lot more than Fire Punch.
The Dialogue in Fire Punch is really something special. I would like to call it stupidly beautiful, if that makes sense. Let me discuss it further.
The dialogue is very inline with the characters rather the story What do I mean by that? Basically every line in the story is written in such a way that it would be what the character and their personality would say in the situation even if it does not improve the story or make sense to the reader. Let me explain with an example. Lol. Anyway, This page is from chapter 5 of the manga. The world, characters and circumstances in the story is very vast and hard to explain. This panel being in the beginning of the manga would could have been used to - build anticipation or foreshadow something - explain the premise - explain a character/place etc a lot of things that could have benefitted the story and it's execution but No, this manga choose to remain true to character and just repeat the word "piss" a lot of times lol which the character ( being a stupid and dumb kid ) would have done in that situation. Let us see a more serious example. This is a page from before a big fight in the manga. It is supposed to hype the reader up for this major fight about to unfold in the story that is what would have happened in a traditional manga. In Fire Punch however, they decide to be a bit silly and true to character. The other person doesn't care about this big fight and is only here to do his thing. Rightfully the dialogue conveys this by him asking Agni to learn English while training and Agni who is reacting to it with "bruh". The dialogue in that entire arc is silly and funny, it downplays the seriousness of the situation but it remains true to the characters and how they would act in that given scenario.
Personally, I liked it better that way. Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man are filled with such dialogue which is what makes these characters so unique, interesting and memorable.

The art of Fire Punch is very FIRE. The manga is filled with these beautiful and detailed spreads that are so beautiful to look at, I can't believe Fujimoto decided to fill the manga with so many of these spreads which would have taken him at least hours to make that would be seen by most readers for 5-10 seconds. The manga is detailed where it needs to be and it goes simplistic too, so it is filled with both kinds of art.
The fights were so well drawn in this manga, they give off this serious and dirty tone which fits perfectly for this manga. Unlike chainsaw man where I had to stare at the page for 10-15 minutes to figure out what was going on, here I was able to understand and enjoy all the fights thoroughly. They really pack a PUNCH. On a side note, the manga covers are epic. Looking at the manga covers alone gives me enough testosterone to make a family of 4.

Panelling

An important factor when it comes to manga often overlooked is Panelling. Panelling is Fire Punch is not just a means to draw a manga, it's a means to build impact and reflect the character's feelings in the story. It is done very cinematically. If we observe all the fights and important moments in Agni's perspective, each important moment is given a lot of space and detail. This subtlety expresses to the reader that this moment is intense and is of grave importance to both Agni and the story. Let us look at Togata's fights. They aren't given much space or detail. Consider the fight while they are chased. If you look at these panels, it is so clearly obvious that an intense and adrenaline pumping fight is going on. But Fujimoto does not give the same level of detail and intensity to Togata's fight. From his perspective, this means nothing to him i.e. even the author, reader and story should not care much about this. It's as if it's a given that he would win this fight and it can easily be played off as a joke. This video does the fight more justice This same panelling trend is used throughout the manga to truly reflect how the character feels about the particular situation he/she is facing at the moment. These things usually go unnoticed when you read manga but I believe Fujimoto has used his panelling very well to take the story to great heights.
There are a lot of characters in Fire Punch, sadly most of them either don't get enough time or are killed off too soon for me to get attached to them. Only two characters left an impression on me : Agni and Togata. There are many important characters too like Doma and Judah which are cool I guess but I personally wasn't very attached to them.

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Agni

We have all seen cool characters in anime, books and movies. I wonder what cool characters you are fond of, Dear Reader?
Let's take the example of popular cool characters like Levi, Satoru Gojou, etc. These are cool characters who don't make many mistakes and don't have many problems/flaws. They are basically perfect.

Our Beloved MC Agni ( Agni means "Fire" in Hindi btw ) starts off like that. In the beginning as I started this manga I thought "Damn this guy is so hot and cool, what a sigma male" but Fujimoto does something rather interesting with Agni.

As the pages turn you start to see Agni going from this "cool" character to a normal human being. He shares his worries, concerns and goals with other characters and the reader. You see him lose fights and learn how to fight. You see that he makes mistakes too and regrets some of his decisions too. Most of all you realise that he has emotions and feelings which makes him more human and relatable at times.

Till here, it's fine right?
Character depth is a good thing, right?

Ha ha.
Thing is..........................................

AGNI IS A FUCKING DUMBASS
This is evident only near the end of the manga but Agni is actually really dumb. He does not think about any of his actions or consequences of his actions, He does not think before killing anyone, he would have never reached anywhere without the help of Togata, He accepts the role of "God" without even realizing what it entails, kills so many innocent lives, pathetically sees his sister in a girl who just resembles her appearance, stupid and naïve.

I have never before in my life gone from
Wow, this guy is very cool
to
Wow, this guy is very cool and very human too
to
Wow, this guy is actually very pathetic and dumb

Togata's speech can be seen as a Mockery Of The Reader. We readers believed that Agni is the savior in the story, Why? bcuz he is the main character and is cool. Despite seeing his ass destroyed in fights, killing a lot of people and fail we still believed that he was the hero, it wasn't till the end we realized that agni is actually a dumbass. We expected things from him purely based on his appearance

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Togata

Have you ever seen those Netflix shows where they force in LGBTQ+ themes for no good reason and it feels pointless and forced?

Well well well, Fire Punch also does something similar but unlike "shit netflix show 901", it actually improves the story.

Time to talk about my favourite character in this story, Togata.

he starts off as a crazy movie girl, literally fucking out of nowhere and with in a camera. From the very start, he is a joy to witness because his dialogue and interactions are all related to this movie that he is making. There is always something special when people engage in/talk about activities that they are passionate about.

As the story grows, you realise that Togata is actually a cool and strong person who is very smart and strong who can handle enemies like they are My Hero Academia fans on the local playground. All his fights ( tbh they are like 2 fights smh ) are very epic and intense even though the panelling does not give as much detail and importance to them because it's so obvious that he is going to win that it's comedic.

Despite being a character loved by many ( including myself ) like most characters in this story, he is killed soon. Remember the LGBTQ+ that I was talking about, it is well portrayed in Chapter 40 ( my favourite chapter fr ).

Now I am not gonna pretend that this manga is the best representation ever, it's just a single chapter but In my opinion this one chapter is more memorable than the 56 gay Netflix shows that have been made in the past week.
In this chapter, we finally get answers as to who Togata is as a person and the struggles he has been dealing with. Togata is a person who has the body of a woman and mind of a man. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference in the beginning cuz like it isn't even visible. But he explains how this presence affects his image of herself, causing him to forget who is the real one and explaining to Agni how he can never be a "god" like him despite being qualified because of his appearance.
It is a real slap to the face because he is the last person in this manga who you would expect to say something so sentimental and personal.

I love this aspect of the manga, making the "cool and badass" characters actually human and not "Mr. Perfect". Really really good touch.

Fire Punch Better than Chainsaw Man?

Some people consider Chainsaw Man Better.
Some people consider Fire Punch Better.

What Do I think?
I don't know to be honest. It's up to you and what you enjoyed more. There is no "right" or "wrong" choice.

For me,
Fire Punch has a better story, better themes, better plot twists, better fights and better dialogue than Chainsaw Man,

But If asked the question, I would say Chainsaw Man is better because the characters are given a lot of time and I was a lot more attached to them unlike Fire Punch where most people are killed off in 5 chapters. The emotional moments in Chainsaw Man moved me way more than the moments in Fire Punch. Therefore, Chainsaw Man Better.

Message

The Overall Message Of Fire Punch is "Live".

What?
What the fuck?

Let me explain.

Throughout the story Agni's goals and purpose in life keeps changing. First it was to get revenge, then it was to feed his followers and then to protect his sisters. These goals aren't similar to each other. One is for revenge, the other for sacrifice and the last one is for family.
Above all was staying alive and that's the point of Fire Punch.

Many people tend to believe that a life must have an ultimate purpose or an ultimate goal for which you leave everything behind and stake it all. But what if it does not work out?
Do you just die?
No, you live and find another purpose or goal.
We set many goals and dreams for ourselves, most of which aren't gonna work out.
But so what?
Find new purposes.
Find new goals.
Find a new fuel for your flame,
People don't need an ultimate purpose to stay alive, they just do. Even if the things that you want to pursue today don't work out, if the things you liked in the past don't interest you anymore, regardless of the suffering and anguish that you may feel to survive in this world.

You must live.
Find a new purpose if you must. Find a new friend if you must. Find new goals if you must. Regardless of the pain and anguish, One must always believe that March starts off with cold winters and will always end with warmer and beautiful spring.

Conclusion

Best Character

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is a wonderful manga. It has been adapted into a movie which is probably the reason why you know about this manga / are reading this review. In this review, I will be discussing the story, characters and the manga.

James Asks

Yes.
The movie, Josee, the Tiger and the Fish has an amazing OST, amazing animations and a beautiful song made by Eve. The movie is longer than the manga and It leaves a better emotional impact compared to the manga.

So why bother with the manga?

Well, the manga has only 10.5 chapters. You could finish it in time, it would take you to have lunch tbh. Another great reason is the gorgeous artwork which is why I read the manga. The art of this manga is so good that it gave me orgasms while reading it fr.

I will be analysing and spoiling the story in this review. It's like 10.5 chapters long bro, If I don't include spoilers what do you expect me to talk about???

the manga cover?

Anyways, I will be discussing these three characters and the scenes that involve them. For a quick recap the characters are :-

Josee, Our female lead who has been using a wheelchair since birth.
Mai Ninomiya, A female colleague of our male lead at his part time job.
Tsuneo Suzukawa, Our Male lead. ( I will be calling him as 'male lead' or 'MC' or 'boi' from here now)

Mai Ninomiya

Mai is in love with our male lead so she does not want the male lead to leave her side or leave her alone. We can sympathise with her, after all finding someone you love is very hard to do and I personally know people who have done crazy things in their life in order to fulfil their love.

She plays the part of the antagonist in our story, if the relationship of the male lead with wheelchair girl helps him become a better person and supports him. This girl tries to make the life of the male lead worse and De-supports him smh.

OMG GALLAD, how can you say such a thing about her? That's so fucking mean :(

Let us break down some scenes in the manga ( or movie smh ) so that I can explain and support my statement.

---

Protagonist is le sad

This is the part after our beautiful boy got hit by a car and has received the news that his dreams may never come true. Basically, he is very sad and pensive after such terrible news.
In the hospital, his part time job friends visit him (this girl included) and he shares his worries with her, expressing that his dream has been crushed. His words and expressions clearly convey that he is experiencing the dread and despair of his failed dream and ambition.

To all the words spoken by the mc, Mia replies "I love you". I believe there are two ways to see and interpret this message. Let's discuss.



This behaviour is really scummy because this statement is subtly telling our boy to give up on his dream and focus on her instead. She gets to have him all for herself because he would not go to Mexico. She knows the fact that he has worked really hard for his dream and she completely ignores his work, ambition and dream.

After hearing this our boi has this reaction on his face, which I can only interpret in two ways.

I have just been confessed to, I never realized that this girl had feelings for me. This is crazy. What should I do now? What about Josee? What about my future plans? Should I give up on my dreams and settle down? AHHHHH, THIS IS TOO MUCH

or

Bruh

Another interpretation Of The Above Situation

In situations where a loved one is in a dire state, for example badly injured in a hospital. It is very hard to determine what should be said and what shouldn't be said. People who are suffering through a lot of pain really need that emotional support.
Considering his family can't stay with him in the hospital, he lacks support in this current situation. By her saying that she loves him, it might improve the MC's emotional state and well being.

Showing him that there are people out there who care about him and want him to recover as soon as possible. Therefore, improving his recovery. If we look at this situation in such a perspective, Mia hasn't really done anything wrong or scummy instead she has actually helped our beloved mc a lot.
So in the end, this situation is up for debate. Different people can view in different ways. I wonder what you thought about it when you watched it/read it.
Anyways, this next section that I will be talking about is definitely not up for debate.

---

Unnecessary Comments

I think my hate towards Mai mainly stems from what she says to Josee throughout the story. You know how they say Actions speak louder than words, well Words can speak pretty loud too.

Let us consider the following scene.
Josee's grandmother ( or her caretaker ) has just passed away. The grandmother who had been taking care of her throughout her whole life is now dead. There is no one left to take care of her now, she has to learn to live on her own and figure out how to take care of herself. Basically, she is going through a lot.

Mia knocks on Josee's door with an agenda that she is going to comfort her.
I repeat, COMFORT HER

and you ask, how is she gonna do this comforting ?

She tells Josee that she should leave the mc alone and not get involved with him. Saying that her presence holds him back from achieving his dream which is very fucking stupid thing for her to say because in the previous section, she was literally doing the thing that she is accusing Josee of.

She also proceeds to say that the only reason that the mc hangs out with Josee is because he pities her which is very a harsh thing to say to anyone ( especially to a disabled person).

This portrays how mean, insensitive and fucking rude Mia can be. The audacity of this bitch to say those things to someone who has just lost someone so close to her.
It's just so fucking rude bro.

The Second and last dialogue between Josee and Mia happens right after the "Protagonist is le sad" scene. Mia once again comes to Josee's house to "secure" her love, telling Josee that she will be keeping the mc to herself by stopping his "silly dream" and she will "win" because she knows more about him than her.

Then she gets absolutely destroyed by Josee who says the MC will never give up and that her feelings are stronger than Mia's feeling could ever be.

After this Mia leaves and starts crying as she goes, because she lost.

RIP BOZO Mia hahahaa, get fucked bitch.

10/10 great scene, loved it. Peak storytelling.

Tsuneo Suzukawa

Unlike the other two, I do not have much to talk about with our beloved male lead. He is a nice guy who works hard, is ambitious and likes girls in wheelchairs.

Josee

My friend ( @JGamer ) has done a nice review about the movie. In this review, he criticizes Josee for being insensitive and a bad person throughout the story because she does not treat the male lead in the best of ways and ends up being the reason for his accident. These points hold true. I know it may be a bit controversial but I want to look at her a bit deeper and explain why I think she is actually a good character.

---

Being Insensitive

In 1991, the Japan Council of Independent Living Centres (JIL) was opened and, by 2006, over 130 ILCs (Independent Living Centre) existed in Japan that were associated with JIL. The ILCs offered an independent living program which aimed to build on the social skills, confidence, and attitudes of participants. This provided those with disabilities with essential skills for living in the community that were not offered in segregated schools.

In 2008, the Law for Employment Promotion, etc. of the Disabled Persons (1960) was revised to ensure that employers would provide equal opportunities to those with disabilities both during the hiring process (article 34) and while they are in employment, including wages, training and welfare (article 35).

The Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Act was enacted prior to ratifying the CRPD in June 2013 and came into effect in April 2016.

What the fuck is all this? Why has this reviewer guy put all this info that he copied from Wikipedia here? How does this have anything to do with the review?

Let me explain, we are gonna look at this in a more realistic way.

According to the first point ( and other various other events not stated here), Japan started taking disabled people seriously around 1991-1995. Josee would have probably been born in 1996-1998 because she is 24 years old. That means she didn't have the benefits and support that disabled children of today get to experience. Considering she was in a wheelchair from birth, her parents and her must have struggled a lot to cope with the difficulties of life. Here are some screenshots I took from a video explaining the situation of disabled kids in 2021, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JcJaw60-gk ). If the situation is like this in 2021, you can imagine how it would have been like in the 90s or 00s.

Let's us consider point 2 and 3 i.e. Discrimination and employment. In the country India, the caste system was made illegal in 1950 yet the discrimination based on caste was still very prevalent and continues to this day.

Why?

Because this caste system was deeply rooted in Society. Being followed for centuries, ingrained in the minds of children from the time that they were born. It can be quite difficult for society to forget something hardwired into them.

The History of discrimination against disabled people in japan is really fucked up. The society in Japan believed that "disabled people should be hidden by their families like a shameful secret".

The 1960s saw an increase in disabled children being separated from their families and placed in residential institutions. At the age of 18, many of these children would be transferred to adult facilities where they would remain until death. Within the residential institutions, many human rights violations took place, including child residents being used as guinea-pigs for their doctors in surgical procedures and numerous incidents of sexual abuse towards female residents

The government of Japan made discrimination against disabled people illegal in 2016.

FUCKING 2016

Considering the history of the country, the discrimination faced by disabled people must be something that I can't even begin to describe in words. Though I can't really blame Japan as many other countries have also have made discrimination against disabled people illegal in around 2010s ( https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/disability-laws-and-acts-by-country-area.html ). In such a situation, I think we all can see that getting a proper job or education would be quite difficult even if there are laws promoting it.

Discrimination is not the highlight or given much importance in the story due to it's short run time. We only get a few panels to highlight it. Let us consider this panel right at the start of the story after Josee falls on the male lead. The grandmother says that she only takes Josee out for walks during the nights because "the outside world is overrun by wild animals'' and in the previous scene, we know that Josee flew from her wheelchair.

Maybe she was running away from someone?

This illustrates the daily struggles and pain both the grandmother and Josee have to withstand on a day to day basis. Now all the laws and history aside, let's get back to the review.
What do I want to convey with this?
Basically that it would be very stupid, unrealistic and unfair to make Josee to be a super-sweet, cute and kind girl from the very beginning. Disabled people have such a hard life living in japan and you can't just ignore the effects of society and people that they have to face. It would be quite distasteful and offensive to the disabled people living there. Yes she can be rude in the beginning but It's not like Josee remains rude throughout the story either, she becomes a kinder and more affectionate person as the story goes on. It's not so black and white. Though Josee is not the perfect character. I believe she is very unique, interesting and a good person. Disabled people around the world have had a special connection to her and this story which is a very beautiful thing because they deserve all the recognition, respect and validation they can get.
P.S. I know I made the Japanese government and society seem like the bad guys here but it's not like that. I admit that there are many problems that still need to be fixed regarding this situation but the government makes sure to provide disabled people with proper funding and living maintenance. They make sure each company hires a certain number of disabled people, fining them if they don't hire enough and rewarding them if they hire more than the required number of disabled people.

---

The Accident

It's kinda hard to blame Josee alone for this. If nothing, it's the driver's fault for driving at such speeds in heavy rain and not focusing on the road. The mc should have paid attention to the traffic signal and the road ( also Josee's fault too ) . It was just an unfortunate event, stay safe on the roads kids.

Wings Of Life

The overall message of the story is that no matter what happens in one's life, as long as one has a fire in their heart ( or wings ) they can absolutely succeed in their goals. (It's similar to Naruto's message) . Josee overcame her fear of the outside world and our male lead giving it his all during his recovery. Beautiful stuff, illustrating that life can throw various shit at you and you can't help it.
But fuck life.
Keep your head up and the wings in your heart flapping as long you believe and have faith in yourself, you can fucking crush it KING.

Conclusion

Yukichi is a really cute cat.

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you liked it :D

Welcome, Let's talk About An Amazing Movie

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a movie that comes under the top 10 anime movies of all time in Anilist and is considered a masterpiece by many people. It does not have any amazing, intense & adrenaline pumping action scene, it does not have a director recognized by many people around the world ( like Hayao Miyazaki or Makoto Shinkai ) and it does not have an insane budget to support it ( for example, the budget of the movie your name was 750,000,000 Yen, fucking hell ) .

Apart from these factors the movie is 2 hours 47 mins long, making it the third longest anime movie ever and in today's world where everyone's attention span is fucked keeping the audience's attention for nearly 3 hours is no easy task. Lastly, Season 2 of the show was kinda hit or miss. Many people hated the series after it, so the movie had to turn that hate into love.

Despite all of these obstacles, Kyoto Animations FUCKING CRUSHED IT and made a masterpiece loved by both people who loved and hated the show.

So, how did they do it?

In my opinion, the sincere effort put in the 2.5 years of making this movie by the amazing people working at Kyoto Animations made it possible. Let's further discuss this point and see what makes this movie as good as it is. I will be including spoilers, if you don't want them just skip to the conclusion. The movie will be broken down and discussed in three parts i.e The Search, The Climax and Yuki Nagato.


The movie takes a slow paced approach overall, it goes above and beyond including scenes of stillness and slow shots which you would normally see skipped or avoided by other media. The directors of the movie, Tatsuya Ishihara ( also the director for "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya") and Yasuhiro Takemoto had both decided that they didn't care how long the movie got, they wanted to remain faithful to the light novel and didn't wanna skip out on anything. Obviously such an approach comes with it's problems. Some people complained that the movie felt "dragged out" and too slow, you also have to consider that some people just don't enjoy slow paced media.

The Search

This is the part of the movie where this slow paced nature is felt the most and I fucking love it. I would like to describe this part of the movie as watching a confused man in an everyday world. A good half of the movie is basically just Kyou trying to figure what the fuck is going on and what he should do next. The direction of this part of the movie is sooo fucking good.
The directors decided to employ little camera movement to emphasise the atmosphere of the scenes and Kyon's loneliness, the animators throughout the movie put the most care into addressing the posing, gestures, and facial expressions and the voice actor of Kyon and everyone else do a really good job throughout the movie, combine these three aspects and you get a feeling of absolute confusion and desperation felt by Kyon.



Another important part of the movie was world-building . Kyon meeting the other SOS club members is what sells this world and gives you the feeling that the world is not the weird one here, it is Kyon. The storyboards ( how each scene of the movie looks ) is made by the directors and Noriko Takao , a female staff who requested to draw them too.

Now you why did I mention female? and who tf talks about storyboards in a review?

You might have noticed that the girls play a major part in this movie. The confrontations between each girl and Kyon are perfect, the girls getting freaked and weirded out by Kyon. Meeting this weird boy who seems to know something important about them but they have no clue who he is, they feel like the same character but in a different world. The reason this was possible and heck, the reason the movie's characters feel as real as do is because of
Miss. Takao. The directors said that having a female's perspective helped them out a lot. Honestly, who can draw girls meeting a crazy guy better than an experienced artist who also has had & heard similar experiences in her life.

It's easy to make a world different from our real world. Just look at any Isekai anime ever, they don't have to follow logic or reason, just put in some magic or some fantasy stuff and there you have it different world. Making a common place seem unusual is not something that can be achieved so easily without some fantasy. "Disappearance" manages to make a school which the audience have long known for 28 episodes and turn it into a completely new place with the same people, all in less than 1.5 hours in a slow paced manner. It is incredible how the staff gave this much attention to detail, it shows that they really cared about what they were making. Beautiful people, those Kyoto Animation guys.

The Climax

Haruhi Hater 69420 says
"God I hate that anime 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya', There is no character development in that anime whatsoever"

Haruhi Hater 69420 says
" OH MY GAH!!!!! is that Osaka from azumanga daioh? Why yes, that does sound interesting Osaka. It could improve that series for me. BTW when is the next season of azumanga daioh coming Osaka? It's been 20 years. Please come back, I really miss you :( "
starts crying

On a side note, god please give us another season of azumanga daioh. I beg.

Even though the show managed to explain the characters and the bonds between them really well, the lack of character development was one of the reasons that the show was criticised. Well well well not anymore buckaroo, the movie has some epic character development that you longed for.

The people in "Disappearance" feel very fresh because the world is new. Imagine I took Naruto and put him in the world of "Demon slayer". Did Naruto change? not necessarily. Did demon slayer change? Not necessarily. But if I combine the two then it feels completely new and fresh. In the movie, the same characters who we knew in the show are placed in a new world so their reactions, interactions and dialogue become interesting again.

Apart from these benefits of solid world-building, There is also good character development of our boi Kyon ( or our mc ) and we are blessed with a new cute Nagato.
I wanna go on a tangent and talk about "The cute Nagato" because well, I am a big Nagato fanboy ngl (my favourite character in the series) and OH MY GOD!!! the Nagato with expressions and emotions is so DAMN CUTE BRO. Imagine Komi-san but a hundred times cuter. Nagato has the personality of a 'computer program' throughout the show and seeing an expressive Nagato is a special feeling. By focusing on minute details, they were able to nail her cuteness of a shy, timid and bashful literacy girl down to a T. It was so good that they even made a spin-off lol.

---

There are two amazing scenes which make the climax for me i.e. The Monologue and The Knife. With any good or well made slow paced media, there is always one common attribute
when it gets going, OH BOY, IT FUCKING HITS.

---

The Monologue

Now on paper, this should seem like an ordinary or boring scene. It's just Kyon reflecting on his thoughts, actions, his philosophy of "Fun" and what he actually wants in his life.

So why am I talking about it?
oh my god, the voice actor of Kyon FUCKING NAILS this part. This monologue consists of a "pissed-off and angry" Kyon lecturing "stupid" Kyon. He voices it so well, the angry voice is so good, it sounds like he is loathing and demeaning this other useless part of himself while also sounding like a parent/senior who is giving some "Tough Love" to his child. Honestly, I feel all of us have such conversations in our heads where we are scolding ourselves, while at the same time trying to reflect. (I checked twice to see if two or three voice actors did this part because the number of feelings expressed by this same voice perfectly is insane ) .

Throughout the movie, "Disappearance" tries to be subtle by focusing on the minute details and world. Well, fuck that shit because this scene is none of that. It takes a very direct and the over the top approach (like monogatari) showing beautiful shots like Kyon in an imaginary train station holding a ticket to the other world, The club room exploding and the other self crushing his head with his leg. It perfectly makes the viewer feel that Kyon's ideology and worldview is being challenged and he is noticing his own contradictions and fallacies.



Combining these two aspects, lead me to cry. I can't believe that I ended up crying at a fucking monologue about what "fun" is but life is surprising.

---

The Knife

Honestly, it follows the same structure as the previous scene, it follows a direct approach and amazing voice acting. Nice reveal and this scene felt intense.

Yuki Nagato

The Horror Of Being Yuki Nagato

There's something that is always present in the movie from the start to the end?
Can you guess? Think hard. It's in plain sight, always. You just aren't noticing it.
What is it?
Snow
A detail that most of us ignored or didn't care about was that it was snowing. How do you say snow in Japanese?
Yuki and that leads to a discussion of my favourite character, Yuki Nagato.
Yuki is someone who has always been in the background of every incident and is always present, yet her presence is outshined by more lively characters like Haruhi. She is always been relied upon by Kyon and she has various other duties to carry out on a day to day basis. She is also the strongest and smartest in the group.

So Why Did She Break ?

Yuki spent her time working her ass off just to ensure that everything was smooth sailing. It can be noticed by how many precautions she has taken and extra measures she put in place.
The cute nagato had so many emotions and expressions on her but

What about our Yuki?
Did you honestly believe the Yuki we know felt nothing while working?
Do you honestly believe she has no feelings?
No, she did.

She didn't express any of them nor complain, she didn't say a word. Yuki was always in plain sight. Yuki was always someone who wasn't noticed. People like Haruhi took up all the spotlight. All the pressure from Haruhi's actions and powers had become completely exhausting for her to handle anymore. Imagine the endless eight arc of the show, when watching it, what did you feel ? Bored, shit or wanting it to end. Well, that is what Nagato felt 15,532 times. All she probably needed was a break. Maybe a few words of kindness, appreciation or gratitude. Everyone only thought of Yuki ( even my dumbass ) as a robot who doesn't feel anything the whole time while, she was being crushed to the point where she thought of destroying the entire world.



I am honestly very angry with myself. I didn't understand Yuki at all, so I had to research and re-watch the movie to understand. Something so obvious yet goes unnoticed. There were signs all over, the shots like the one above and the faded out colours used in shots represented how lonely and sad Yuki felt the entire time, yet my attention was always diverted by looking at the other characters and aspects that shone over Yuki and her loneliness.
There are millions of people in the world who work in the shadows, underappreciated and lonely, I wonder if I can one day see and help out some people like these who are going through all their struggles and loneliness alone without ever complaining or crying. Outshined by the people like Haruhi, I hope unlike this time where my dumbass could not identify such an obvious thing, I will be able to in real life.

Rooftop

This is the last scene that I will be talking about and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful scenes in anime to this day.
The Scene ("Disappearance" in general too ) takes what I would like to call a "breaking bad approach", which means that it does not use any amazing OSTs but relies on it's cinematography, direction and acting instead. It only uses a simple piano and orchestral music, though it is still beautiful, it is not the focus of the movie. The emotions and feelings throughout the movie are mainly expressed through its amazing direction and characters.

The rooftop scene is one of the most emotional scenes ever, but it does not make you cry ( if you do cry that is understandable ) . It gives off a feeling of melancholy, loneliness and sadness that was felt by Yuki. Yet in the end, gives off a feeling of appreciation and gratitude expressed by the apology of Kyon over his ignorance of the emotional state of Yuki. It is amazing how the directions were able to assign emotions onto a person who cannot express any of them.

Like I said before Beautiful people, those Kyoto Animation guys.

Conclusion

Despite it's pacing issues, I believe "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya '' has earned it's right to be considered a masterpiece.

Should you watch the movie? Yes.
Should you watch the movie without seeing the anime? Never.
Should you watch the movie without seeing the endless eight arc? Sure, you can but you would not be able to understand the emotions felt by Yuki Nagato as they are essential to understand her and the movie too.

It's a beautiful movie which tells a story about a confused man & a lonely woman made by amazing people with careful attention to detail. It has made me reflect that I too want to be considered special by someone and want to appreciate the other special people in my life. Despite the occasional times (not if it is constantly on your mind) where you wish that life was this way or that way, "Disappearance" perfectly demonstrates why your current life and the people you love are irreplaceable. It has also made me realise that there are many people who are struggling in the background away from the spotlight where it is difficult to notice them, a gentle hand would mean the world to them.

So in conclusion, Beautiful Movie.

Remembering Yasuhiro Takemoto

In July 2019, a man walked into a Kyoto Animation’s Studio One and set fire to a bucket of gasoline killing 36 people, injured dozens more, and destroyed much of the Studio One building. Yasuhiro Takemoto , one of the directors of "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya", died in this attack.
Personally, I have always been a fan of Takemoto's work. One of my favourite anime of all time is Hyouka , I love that anime's animation and direction a lot too. He has also worked in many works of Kyoto animation ( including being a director for shows like Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Lucky star & Amagi Brilliant Park)

Kyoto Animation is going strong to this day despite having to deal with this. They received a lot of support from fans in Japan and all over the world, raising over ¥3.3 billion (US$30.27 million) in Japan and over US$2.3 million internationally to help the studio and its employees recover.
The works of the people who died in this attack will live on and be watched, enjoyed and talked about by people like you and me.
Thank you Kyoto Animations for all that you guys make and standing strong despite facing tough times like this one. You will always be a studio that will hold a special place in the hearts of people around the world.

This is an amazing shoujo manga which took me by surprise and I really liked it. I am going to keep it short because the manga has released only 30 chapters so far ( at the time of writing this ) so writing a full fledged review is not possible.

It's Just Epic

The premise of the manga revolves around a small girl who suffers from a disease which makes her body parts turn into that of a monster during her day. Naturally, due to her health condition and monster-like body parts, she believes that she cannot be in a relationship with anyone, this is the where the epic shoujo manga twist comes in and she meets a pretty boy ( you can guess what happens next heh heh ) .

Now I know I made it sound generic and I might not be good at "selling" manga but believe me, this manga is special ( I won't be writing this if it wasn't ) . I will talk about my favourite part of the manga first, that is the beautiful and amazing artwork of it. It can be sparkling and cute, I mean damn. I am a big boy but looking at this charming shoujo art-style makes me feel butterflies in my stomach, it's so sparkly. Apart from the beautiful shoujo-manga art, the manga also has beautiful monster art which is really something. How can you have both art that is so charming & sparkly while also having these beautifully drawn scary Godzilla destroying cities lol?. Honestly, very cool.

Now, apart from the art. There is the plot and characters. Now, this manga has only 30 chapters and is still releasing, so my thoughts on those topics may be wrong because the manga hasn't gotten that far into the story or the characters. It's basically very shoujo-manga if you know what I mean. It's a story about the relationship between the girl and the boy, the problems and hurdles they each face, how they deal with it and cute moments :D . it's really charming. The comedy of the manga is good and it made me laugh a few times. The story is interesting and kept making me wanna read more because there are not many manga where the girl is a fucking monster, you know lol ( also the art kept making me wanna come back ). Overall, good shit.

A Beautiful Story About Body Positivity

Now I know Body Positivity is not the most complex topic out there, there are many songs and media that talk about it ( for example, Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara is a very good song) but there is not a lot of it in manga and anime form ( In fact, I would say the opposite is quite prevalent with anime girls having boobs with the diameter of fucking Jupiter lol ). This manga doesn't go super in detail or depth with it or anything ( at least not so far ) but it does do a decent job, the main character being accepted by the boy and her friends, the side stories of other characters and their own conversations about their bodies and acceptance. It does represent that there is more to a person than just their appearance and how shapely their ass is. Thinking a person is "attractive" or wanting to date/marry a person only because they look "hot" is like saying "Yah, This Character is the best character ever because their character design is good" lol . What I am trying to say is, Yes people can be hot in your eyes and it makes them more attractive but looking down on someone/yourself or thinking someone/you can't find love because you don't think they/you look "cute" is just a really shallow way to look at a human being. There are many aspects and their body is only one of them, not all of them. These are my thoughts. I am sure you have your own thoughts on the topic and what makes a person attractive ( I would love to hear them) .

Thanks for reading, feel free to message me about the review/manga :D

The Significance Of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a show that was made in the year 2006 and has been considered a classic of it’s time. Let us talk about it's significance and why is it as important
as it is

• Haruhi was an anime that came out when the internet streaming was just starting or it was a fresh concept in Japan. It was one of the first anime to hit it off with the Japanese internet ( specifically a streaming website called Nico Nico Douga ) they made a trend of dancing to it’s end. People were even showing off their dance moves in full cosplay on the streets of Akihabara... at least until the police got involved. Can you imagine a group of people dancing in cosplay in the 00s? In Japan, you are not even allowed to dance in public yet people still did it in fucking cosplays lol. Just look at how cute this video is :D

• It has inspired the animation we see in modern anime today. By the time Haruhi aired, the anime world had mostly moved on from hand-painted cels to digital colouring, but Haruhi went further than its peers in capturing modern camera techniques in animation. The anime is full of detailed backgrounds and realistic details. In the animations of the characters, even the smallest gestures were given a lot of detail (for example, the "god knows concert" scene is still a masterpiece). Studio Kyoto Animation and director Tatsuya Ishihara did a great job. Details that we take for granted today would not exist if it weren't for this anime and the people behind it.

• Haruhi was one of the first major anime titles to inspire the anime pilgrimage phenomenon, where fans visit locations depicted in the anime and share photos of their travels online. In 2018, the Anime Tourism Association recognized Haruhi as a major title for inspirational pilgrimages.

  

• It went on to influence many trends and tropes one can see in Japanese light novels today.

There have been many anime that have come out after 2006 which can be considered equally good or better than it.
Even so we cannot undermine the effect of this show. Even if I talk about it's problems, I do understand that it had a major impact in the world of anime and manga. A lot of people hold a special place in their hearts for it and I shall forever be grateful to it.

Okay so history lesson over, now we will discuss the show. Usually when you find people discussing this show online, you would find them discussing the two seasons separately ( that or complaining about the endless eight arc lol ) so I will also discuss the two seasons separately in this review. Spoilers ahead, if you don't want them just skip ahead to the Conclusion.

Season 1

The first season of Haruhi mainly consists of getting to know the show's characters, the premise and message well. Each character is given a lot of screen time and their circumstances are also explained in detail. In my opinion, this style of starting the series is rather interesting, Compare it to a show like Jujustu Kaisen, where the show just begins with it's action and story without any formal introduction or anything, I don't dislike that approach or hate it but I love the slow paced nature of this start, getting to know the characters and premise is essential to enjoying this story and the movie after all.

Objectively speaking, this season is a more enjoyable and pleasant to watch compared season 2 for reasons that would be evident when I discuss the 2nd season. I thought the initial arcs were quite good and were the reason that I got hooked to the show. Imo, The animation style and the character designs are better too and the op & ed of this season are quite nice too. Obviously, there is also some boring moments in season 1 too but overall, it is good. I watched the show in broadcast order btw, fans of the show recommend that you watch in chronological order but imo it's doesn't really matter as I was able to understand what was going on.

On a side note, I wanted to talk about the question raised by Haruhi Suzumiya herself, In a world filled with billions of people, how can anyone be considered "special" when every situation and event in your life has probably been experienced by millions of people just like you ?

I am sure an answer popped into your mind, I would love to hear it. Anyways, I have thought about it and come up with my own theories

I am but less than a drop in the ocean of people that is the world. Everything I have done is experienced and has already been done by people before me. Nothing is that interesting or unique.
Why is that a 'problem'? It's just rather boring and commonplace, Humans by nature seek different and new things all the time.
But it can be said that the relationships one forms with various people throughout his or her life always will be unique. Like how in romcom there is always certain events that always happen and stereotypes that occur, yet each of them give off a different vibe and feel

Also, it can be said that even though it is common, some things are just unique and interesting for the person. They are what make life worth living. for eg finding your fav anime etc

Another theory which is inspired from mob psycho is that no one is special and everyone in the world is just a commoner, yes people could have some special talents here and there but they also have to struggle and work hard to get by, just like the rest of the world. If you want to be special, do interesting things and work really hard, you will find your own answer :)

Another one is that you don't need to be special for everyone in the world, as long as someone you care about thinks you are special to them, isn't that enough?

Season 2

Endless Eight Arc

Time to address one of the most controversial arcs in all of anime which has caused roaring debates among anime fans for years.

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Why does it sucks?

The endless eight arc is just the same episode repeated eight times. There's no difference in the story in all eight episodes. It can be really fucking boring to sit through and can be a deal beaker for the show. Many consider it to be a mistake. The funny thing is that the LN only describes the last loop, only the FUCKING last loop whereas the anime made it into more than half the season ( 8/14 episodes).

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So Why Do I Appreciate It ?

Modern Anime is formulaic in general, the creators usually know when to play what music and what scenes can be skipped or emphasized to keep the audience happy and entertained. The Endless Eight arc is a total fucking blow to this, the creators of the anime must have known full well that what they were making was not fun, they purposely spent their budget and hard work into this. The creators actually had the balls to try something new and eccentric like this, it shows that they were willing to experiment and try new things. I think we can all appreciate their thought and effort, even if we didn't enjoy the arc.

The endless eight arc can be seen as an odd way to get the audience familiarized with the characters. By making the viewer watch the characters do the same things and have the same reactions for over 8 times, the viewer is bound to learn about the characters and it would stick in their memory firmly. The arc gives you a feeling of what an actual time loop feels like that is complete fucking exhaustion and irritation, you want it to be over but you click that next episode and it is the same thing again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . It also plays an important role in making sure that the movie hits as hard. Lastly, we can appreciate the direction and camerawork in each episode and tiny details they put in here and there.

The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya

Why does it sucks?

The Movie arc is not pleasant to watch at all. The entire arc is about making a movie with Haruhi as the director, you would think that it would be a fun time but alas, that is not the case. The beginning of this arc is kinda boring. The arc involves a lot of bullying of Mikuru-chan which is prevalent throughout the show but this arc, damn. You can see Haruhi just being a straight-up asshole here. The chemistry and synergy between the group is just awful, I will be marking this as an example of 'bad chemistry' in my books.

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So Why Is It My Favourite Arc Despite All Of That ?

Notice how I never used the word 'boring' in the previous section, only unpleasant. If I were to ask you to imagine a slice of life anime about a group of friends making a movie, what comes to mind? a group of friends having a good time making a movie or something like that right? maybe something might go wrong and it would lead to some resolution or something ? ( idk I don't make anime ). Well, how about the characters being bored the whole time, bullying an innocent girl, fights and a shit movie at the end? Personally, I watch a lot of slice of life and romance anime with similar situations. A group of friends doing stuff together, it happens a lot in animanga and usually, it is a pleasant, cute and wholesome joy to read/watch. Watching this arc was like watching a satire/parody of that. If the 1st season and endless war arc helped us understand each individual character in the show better, the The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya arc makes us understand the type of relationship/bond they share among each other. Haruhi doesn't see the members of her club as her 'friends' or 'club members', she sees them as characters in her life ( except kyon ) . In this arc, she treats them like characters, making them do things whether they wanted to or not. It is evident in the case of Mikuru-chan, it just sucks to see how she was treated throughout the production of this movie. Nagato and Koizumi didn't give a flying fuck about what they were going to shoot nor did they object to anything, There only priority was their mission. The sad thing is even if Haruhi treats them like characters, they actually are characters. They would never have been there if Haruhi didn't wish for it and they are only present in the club to monitor Haruhi. So, as a result of these circumstances, this ordinary scenario where I would be enjoying a normal slice of life anime, became something that I had never seen/experienced before. One of my favourite scenes of the entire anime is the confrontation between Kyon and Haruhi, because unlike the other members of the club, Kyon is not tied to any organization or purpose and he is not a 'character' but a person. The verbal fight between them was an excellent payoff, it was incredibly animated and the voice acting was on-point. Just a really good scene, which hit me in the feels. In the argument, Haruhi for the first time ever suffers real backlash for her actions and is called out. It lets her develop as a character by reflecting on her actions and mistakes. Excellent work, Kyon my man. Why is this my favourite arc in the show? is it because of the new experience that this arc gave me or the excellent payoff near the end of the arc? Wrong. The real reason is that I got to see Nagato in a cute witch outfit throughout the arc. Seeing Nagato in this outfit has brought me immense happiness in my life and I would like to thank the gods above for this gift that they have given me. Hands down, best fan service ever. God Bless.

The Side Stories

Ok well, all that is left to talk about is the excellent side stories of the show that are the last 4 episodes in the 2009 edition (which is the one I am currently reviewing), I have no problems whatsoever with these episodes. They were all excellent and I loved every second of these side stories, good shit. 1. The Movie :- This episode shows the movie that Haruhi and the team made along with Kyon's sarcastic narration. The dull and grainy colours that don't match the rest of the show, combined with the clumsy camera movements and occasionally out-of-focus lens, really perfectly make you feel like you're watching an amateur film. 2. God Knows :- Excellent concert scene with really good songs and animations with careful attention to details which makes the concert feel alive. It's really popular on the internet too, with the full version of the song having over 15 Million views and the clip having 111 Million views on YouTube
The video game episode and the last episode ('Someday in the rain') were excellent too.
Objectively speaking, the 1st season was better than the 2nd season but in all honesty for me, the reason that this anime made an impression was the 2nd season. If you were to ask me 5 years from now questions about this show, I would have probably forgotten most of the 1st season but would remember the second season well.

Conclusion

I am sorry that the review got so big, I just wanted to share all my thoughts. In conclusion, should you watch 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' ? umm.. it depends. If you are new to anime, then I won't recommend it. The show has a lot of meta in it, requiring familiarity with the anime medium in general to understand. Secondly, I would recommend you check out this show, if you wanna experience something new and different than your usual anime and aren't put off by having to watch some "boring stuff". A really really good reason to watch this show would be to watch the sequel movie to it. Yah, whether this show is good or bad is debatable but the movie is one of the highest rated film of all time in anime, so even if you don't like the show, I am sure you will at least enjoy the movie. So yes, you should watch this anime. Anyways, I would like to hear your thoughts on the review/show. Feel Free to message me :D

'Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition' is a story about a single father of a small girl. He is a mangaka known for drawing "dirty" manga ( that is ecchi manga with toilet humor ) and well due to this, he makes it a mission to never let his daughter know about his job because it might lead to her being bullied, lose respect for her family, etc. It is a manga that I love a lot and I want to share my thoughts with you in this review.

It Just Hit Different

There's not a lot of animanga that focuses purely on a father-daughter relationship per se ( I can think of spy x family & hinamatsuri ), so the relationships and character interactions feel rather fresh in this manga. A lot of the story revolves around the dad working with his colleagues to keep the secret from his daughter which can lead to some hilarious moments and it also depicts the relationship between the father and the daughter, which can be really wholesome and cute. One thing this manga has helped me understand better is the relationship between an adult & child. When your kid feels down. you feel bothered too, If they feel happy, you feel relieved too, you worry about their future, you worry about their current life, you worry whether your doing too much or doing too little. Taking care of your child is a major part of your life ( of course, this varies as the child becomes older) . If you are ever feeling an itch to read a story about a father, would highly recommend.

Being A Mangaka Can Be Hard

Kouji Kumeta (the author) has been working in the industry for more than 20 years. In that time, he has released both successful and unsuccessful manga & he has had assistants who have made it in the industry too ( for example, Kenjirou Hata the author of 'Tonikaku Kawaii' ). So when he depicts the life of a mangaka, he speaks from the experience he has under his belt. The manga is filled with sections where he talks about the industry, his experiences and expanding on the topic covered in the previous chapters in detail, these sections can be really interesting and have given me a better understanding of animanga in general, I also believe that the advice & experiences shared here can be of value to people who want to pursue creative work. Honestly, it can be a really insightful read.

The Story

The Characters are nice, they play well into the story and expressing it's drama and comedic events. The art of the manga is very stylistic and unique, I really loved how the panels were drawn. I really liked the end of the chapter sketches of the family, they were always so nice to look at and I saved so many of them on my phone. There are references throughout the manga of other popular anime/manga.
The style of comedy can use a lot of pessimistic/self deprecating humor and the story can feel a bit repetitive which I think may put some people off, I can understand that but I can guarantee it is a good manga which is worth a read.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading kakushigoto , it is one of my favorite manga of all time. It holds a special place in my heart. If you ever check it out, I hope you enjoy it too :D

Final Score- 9.5 / 10
Feel Free To Share Your Thoughts With Me :D

I have read 109 chapters of 'Aharen-san wa Hakarenai'. I enjoyed my time reading it and I have stopped reading for reasons I will specify later. I know that I have not caught upto the manga so my review may be incomplete/wrong but I am not gonna force myself to read it, just for this review because my review would still stand for at least 109 chapters of the manga which is a good chunk of it. If you feel that I am wrong or want me to correct something, just message me.
Before I start the review I just wanna say that I am not an 'epic anime review man' who is going to analyze every minute detail of the manga. I just wanna share my thoughts after reading it, and I hope you would message me about it so I could hear your thoughts on it too :D

Introduction

'Aharen-san wa Hakarenai' is a romantic comedy manga about two people that is Reina Aharen and Raidou Matsuboshi. Aharen-san is a girl who struggles with communicating with people because she has difficulty with determining the distance between her and the people she is interacting with. Raidou-kun is her bench-mate who becomes friends with Aharen-san despite her issues. The manga is basically about the daily banter these two do, it can be really funny, cute and wholesome to read. There are other characters too which would include Aharen-san's sisters, a few friends and teacher.

The Beauty Of 'Aharen-san wa Hakarenai'

On paper, this manga doesn't seem every fun or interesting tbh so why I am writing this review instead of going about my day, because I wanted to write this part of the review ever since I finished it a while ago. 'Aharen-san wa Hakarenai' is able to pull off something quite remarkable which is making "Boring People" into "Fun People".

Now I don't want to offend anyone by calling either main characters of this manga boring, just because you don't socialize properly doesn't make you boring
but if you look at from the point of view of a mangaka, having people who don't talk much or show much reaction or emotion as your main leads that being the selling point of your story is very hard, especially if it is a slice & romance manga. Not only are they the main leads, the author does not even rely on the other character or random things ( he does use them from time to time but it is only a few times), to keep the manga flowing. Look at the typical romcom, they use a lot of characters and the main leads are quite vibrant ( Not to diss them, just saying this manga is an unique one )

The author has managed to create an unique manga about the friendship/bond between these two characters who would be termed as 'boring' by 'society' ( society lol ) . Aharen-san's crazy gaming skills, her attempts to help Raidou-kun, her family, her soft voice and dialogue, etc and Raidou-kun's overthinking and overanalyzing situations, his bizarre and crazy theories, etc . It is amazing how using only these two otherwise "boring" characters, the author was able to create so many cute, wholesome and funny chapters. I adore this manga for being able to pull it off.

It kinda sucks now though sigh

Ok it does hurt me to go from that positive segment to this one but alas, the manga has it's fair share of problems.

The Unique aspect of the manga I talked about earlier is lost as the story goes on. I don't blame the author for this, I do realize that you can only go into so much character depth while also keeping it funny. Sure you can say that they could develop the characters or something like that, but if the author does that I doubt you can keep the feel of the manga without losing something. So, as the chapters go on it turns kinda generic with a larger friend group and more romance added into it, I don't hate this change or anything but this isn't the manga that I had come to love.

I looked through a few of the latest chapters, and I can see the uniqueness of the manga has been restored for a few chapters at least, so maybe it is not fully gone :)

Another Problem is There's just too much text, now you might call this is a nitpick but some chapters have way too much text on them. Now I don't want to read a entire textbook to understand the joke, combine this with the previous problem and I don't want to read this manga anymore.

TLDR

'Aharen-san wa Hakarenai' is a cute romcom manga that has it's fair share of funny and wholesome moments. It has a unique story which only focuses on the main leads and their daily shenanigans instead of focusing on their friend group too which makes it unique and refreshing to read. Overall, it is fun, would recommend.

Final score - 8 / 10
I would love to hear your thoughts too :D

So, I read all 296 chapters of 'Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle'. It took me a few months to complete it. I want to share my thoughts here and I hope you do so too.
Before I start the review I just wanna say that I am not an 'epic anime review man' who is going to analyze every minute detail of the manga. I just wanna share my thoughts after reading it, and I hope you would message me about it so I could hear your thoughts on it too :D

The Introduction

The entire story is about a princess who is captured by the demon king and is held as a hostage but the twist is that instead of an ordinary story where it follow a 'hero' and his journey to rescue her, it instead follows the life of the princess, her interactions with the demons and her quest to get a good sleep.

At the start, the concept and premise of the manga seemed very interesting to me and so did the title, which is why I read it. I had my doubts though. As I read first few chapters, I thought that though the idea was interesting, would it be able to hold up? cuz obviously there weren't many characters ( at least in the beginning ) and the concept was just getting a good sleep lol.
The manga was very creative and unique in that aspect, some anime/manga would have the coolest premise and concepts but it is turns out boring as fuck. This manga was a pleasant surprise, most chapters made me laugh/smile and it was a good experience. I never would have imagined that you could make 296 chapters out of a girl just trying to sleep lol and make it enjoyable.

The Characters

The characters are cool and I like them. They play well into the story and it's comedic timing/jokes. My favorite characters would have to be the princess and her body double, bussy ( because her name alone makes me laugh lmao). The characters are a parody/satire of a typical fantasy setting. The princess instead of being this elegant and kind women, is a crazy lady who is batshit insane at times, the demon king who is usually thought of as a evil and cruel leader who is gonna harm the princess, is actually a kind hearted man who takes good care of the princess etc etc. It is quite a unique, refreshing and interesting take on characters and the fantasy genre as a whole.

The Art

The art of the manga is very nice and cute. I have downloaded a lot of the pages on my phone. I liked the parts at the end of each chapter, where the author would draw the princess in a new outfit each time. Here are a few examples,

The World Building And Story

The world building of the manga was also good, in the beginning the place was just 'demon castle' and as on the story goes on, it becomes more of a kingdom with it's own systems and people. It's characters develop as the story goes on too and their relationships change too, although not a crazy amount or something, it's a comedy manga after all. It's arcs can be really fun to read and I enjoyed them a lot. My favorite arcs are princess becomes a kid arc, the visit to the human world arc, the visit to demon cleric's home, the dragon city childhood friend arc ( probably my fav i guess ) , the visit from the princess's mom, Tell me yours too :)

The Problems

Nothing in life is perfect and neither is this manga, though not a lot of issues and it still is a good manga in-spite of them.
the translations of the manga are a bit bad, they kept using words that I had never seen before ( mfw googling words during manga read smh ) and the dialogue was really long sometimes.
another problem was the fact that around chapter 80-150ish ( i don't remember the exact part), the manga started treating itself like a newspaper comic strip more or less ( just jokes ) . Some of those chapters were not fun, nor did they have much plot or character development or world building. Not all of them of course, but I felt that these chapters of the manga were not as good as the rest, maybe just my opinion. The chapters after 156 were so fucking good, I finished chapters 156-296 in less than 2-3 weeks, those chapters were fun and funny too. So, I guess the author caught on and fixed the issues :)

TLDR

A cute and funny gag manga with interesting characters and character interactions. It is a unique take on the fantasy genre and presents some new and interesting ideas, The author is creative and keeps the story interesting. Overall, if you ever wanna read something cute and funny, I would recommend this manga

Final Score - 8/10 :)
Anyways, I would love to hear your thoughts too :D

Good Night