casandra29

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #1

Story: 8/10 Art 7/10 Characters 6.5/10 Overall 7/10

Story

This oneshot had a fairly original story and I really enjoyed it.  I admit that the story felt very weird in the beginning, but as more information was given I became absorbed and began thinking about real "what if" scenarios and also about the underlying message behind the story. It's definitely a deep story. I would think that if the AIDS virus was cured (something that is nearly impossible given it's ability to mutate.) it would be likely that some other disease or measure would come into being because without it humans would reproduce until there is no room left. So that part of the manga is actually really interesting. That being said, I could see something like birthrates going down but sexual desire? that's unlikely. Though it was an interesting scenario. I think that if pornography and practical application of sex was a required element of school it would do more harm than good to trying to bring the birth rate up. Also, promiscuity has nothing to do with raising a child they are putting the cart before the horse. If they teach and condone child sex in order to raise the birth rate then who's going to raise the child if and when it's born. I'd feel sorry for a child born to people like that. A flood of pornography and push for sexual conquest by schools and society won't stop desire and won't bring a birth rate up. So although it's a thought provoking piece. I don't think that part of it is realistic.

If I was to speak on why the main character was not interested in my eyes it looked like he may have swung the other way. Of course he's not going to be interested in having sex with a woman. Which brings me to my second point. It was said that the sex industry was suffering because of this... thats nonsense. It wouldn't suffer at all. Sure in school they teach you how to have traditional sex between a woman and man. However, alternative lifestyles are left out of that loop completely. Also, if women and guys like the main character think of sex as only a means of reproduction, then the sex industry in my eyes would be booming more than ever, filled with people who have unfulfilled desires.

Still the story was thought provoking and I like that. So it deserves a 8/10

Art

The Art in this story was fairly good. It didn't really stick out to me one way or another about middle of the road for Josei manga honestly. I gave it a 7/10

Characters

This oneshot didn't really have too many characters that you get to know in depth only 1 main character is really well explained and 2 secondary characters that are fairly well understood. The rest of the characters are just scenery pretty much or there just to affirm the issues within the story but not to be known themselves. Even though that is the case I still thought they did a great job with it.

The Main character is a boy who seems like he is probably gay but in the closet. His emotions and thoughts are shown very well throughout the oneshot. If I was to have any one issue with him it would be his clothing. A sailor top? Is that a visual innuendo toward his sexual preference? Well whatever, he was still a decent lead for this specific type of story.

The secondary characters are his 2 friends a boy and a girl. The girl seems to have a thing for him... after all she's helping him practise for his practical application test (by sucking him off).... but overall you really don't get to know her well other than the fact that his her and his other friend don't get along (at least on the surface). I could make a assertation to the nature of their relationship but I won't. Overall very little is known about the secondary characters. They are just there to add to the main's depth so it's not all narrative.

Because of the lack of in depth characters and because there really isn't much known about anyone beside the main I gave this a 6.5/10, which is fairly high but the score is only that high because of the main.

Overall

This one was very interesting and I'd suggest it to anyone who likes thought provoking manga. I don't regret reading it and will probably read it again someday.

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #2

Story: 5 Art 7/10 Characters 5/10 overall 5.5/10

Story

The person who wrote this story definitely understood some forms of PTSD quite well. Though it doesn't make it any more desireable to read. This story was extremely uncomfortable for me to read due to my own personal issues in the past. That being said. I could not like it and could not truly rate it without bias. However, I did try. I gave it a 6/10 when I wanted to give it a .5 of 10 based on personal feelings alone.

The story goes though the main character's life fairly quickly since it is a oneshot. It goes from what she dealt with as a kid and extends all the way up into her adult life. It goes from her being a victim of domestic issues as a child(sexual and neglectful) up to being a perpetrator herself. It's very common for people who are of a certain mindset and don't take care of their issues and just try to stuff them to end up this way. It's unfortunate for the child. I don't want to get into it any further.

Art

As with the rest of the manga the art is average. It's all done by the same person and looks fairly similar so no change in Art score.

Characters

The main in this story upsets me greatly. Her mental health was not at a place where she should have had children. She didn't deal with her issues instead she buried them, she never spoke up but continually thought about her horrible lot in life. Finally after gaining happiness she screws it up herself casting blame on someone innocent for not having it as bad as she when she was younger and carrying out her own brand of judgement towards that innocent young life. Dealing with horrible things in your childhood can be rough and I'm not blaming her for any of that. It's unfortunate, but her horrible way of trying to cope is not that uncommon... but that doesn't make it right.

She does have a husband at the end of the manga and a child. However, they speak very little throughout the manga. The rest of the characters are only part of the scenery pretty much So my Character score is based pretty much solely on her.

Overall

This was a really difficult oneshot for me to read and I will not read it again. I would say that some people would definitely find this oneshot disturbing and interesting. I'd say try it out if you don't have major issues with reading about childhood physical and sexual abuse.

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #3

Story: 8/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 7/10 overall: 7.5/10

Story

This story was quite good. It was about a robotic girl in a extremely dysfunctional household. Although throughout the story she acts like a robot. However, at times you can see small amounts of human emotions showing through. She watches a bad situation unfold and although the main character plays the role of the bystander. It’s extremely well written and the story has a great ending.

Art

Just like with the previous oneshots, this one has the same type of art. About Average for a Josei

Characters

Unlike the other 2 oneshots. This one has more than one deeply developed character. I feel the mangaka did a great job making the robot girl take on more human tendencies throughout the manga while at the same time still reminding you she is a robot by the way she speaks and acts.

The Old man was a very endearing character, I really liked him a lot. If I had one complaint about it I’d say they didn’t go into what drove him to marry such a bitch, but they didn’t really have time either.

The Wife and her Boyfriend were horrible people but at the same time, they helped make the story as interesting as it was. These 2 were characters that you hate but were necessary.

Overall

Overall, this was a really interesting oneshot and although it was not my favorite in the collection it is one I wouldn’t mind reading again. I would suggest it to pretty much anyone. Though like most of the other oneshots there is some sexual scenes in it (but they are not detailed like that)

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #4

Story: 6/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 6/10 Overall: 6/10

Story

I didn’t really care for this one much. It also didn’t have a very fulfilling ending. It’s one of those ones where you have to guess what happened cause they don’t tell you. It would be fine if there was an ending. It was more interesting if that was the case. It’s a story that wants to be thought provoking but falls short.

Art

The art is pretty much the same as in the others. However, I didn’t really care for how the characters were clothed in this one.

Characters

Main character in this one is a boy with a roommate that is a girl and he is constantly saying rude things calling her a dyke and speaking about this girl he likes over anything she talks about. That being said. I don’t particularly like him. He comes off as a character the author wanted to make seem eccentric but he seems more stupid instead. Also he seems to have stalker tendencies since he has a crush but always goes to this one park to watch her at a spicific time cause he knows her schedule but he doesn't even know her...

The roommate. She is in underwear  or naked a lot and we don’t really get an explanation as to why. Maybe the mangaka was trying to make her seem edgy.

The characters in this one just don’t feel all that deep or interesting to me. Weird maybe and the girl that the main likes seems kinda creepy at the end, but nothing more than that. So I couldn’t give the character category a really good score.

Overall

Overall, I’d say you could read this oneshot while you're reading other ones from the collection but don’t expect it to be anything great. It’s probably not one I’ll intentionally read again.

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #5

Story: 7.5/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 7.5/10 Overall: 7/10

Story

The story in this one was pretty good. I wasn’t sure I would like it in the beginning. However, after seeing the ending twist that was totally not expected I ended up liking it a lot more. It’s well written and interesting. It takes something depressing from the past and has a positive outcome, just the type of story I needed to see in this collection of oneshots that are largely of a depressing nature.

Art

The art is the same as in the others. I have no qualms about it. It’s average.

Characters

The characters in this one are difficult for me to review. I like the guy closest to the main character. He’s a excellent character and his part was written well.  The main I didn’t think I liked in the beginning. I thought I was going to hate her actually, but by the end, she actually turned into a decent character after I understood her back story.

The rest of the characters were mostly background.

Overall

Overall, I’d suggest giving this oneshot a shot. It’s pretty good. I’ll probably re-read it again at some point.

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #6

Story: 5.5/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 5.5/10 Overall: 6/10

Story

This is the worst story out of the collection. Although I had more of a personal issue with #2 this one I had personal issues with and overall issues with too. I don’t want to spoil it. But the ending is horrible and honestly it makes little to no sense. All this fear over a frog dissection on elementary school? What the hell? The main character is not really understandable at all.

Art

The art in this one is good. In fact. I’d almost say it’s slightly better than the others though not enough to make the score different.

Characters

The main in this story is crazy, nuts, PTSD but for no plausible reason… maybe I missed something. I re-read it just in case I missed some key factoid or something. But I got nothing. He has PTSD from a frog dissection on elementary school.

The main characters little girlfriend is cute (though she’s supposed to be in college). I had no real issues with her. If I did the character score would have jumped down much lower. I felt sorry for her at the end.

Overall

I’d skip this one. It’s not worth your time. I won’t be reading it again.

IC In a Sunflower Oneshot #7

Story: 8/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 8/10 Overall: 7.5/10

Story

This one is the best out of all the oneshots. Guess they saved the best for last. It was really quite interesting. It was a about a boy who was an experimental subject. If I say much I’ll ruin it. However, this is another one of those stories where there is a plot twist. I tend to enjoy those types a lot.

Art

The art in this one is the same as the others. It’s about average.

Characters

The main character is a boy who grew up at a experimental facility. He often had tests ran on him and he lived among the other teens there. It was a clone facility. He was a deep character and grew quite a bit in such a short story.

The girl from the “orphanage” Riika was a great character and honestly probably my favorite character of this story even though she was not the main. I liked her a lot. I wish I could say more about her and the main but if I do, I’ll end up spoiling it.

The “Father” at the research facility was really horrible but he was important to the story so his character didn’t make the overall character score go down. Although there are other characters in this oneshot those are pretty much the only notable ones. The mangaka really did a good job with them though.

Overall

I’d say you should definitely give this oneshot a try. It’s quite a heartfelt story. I’ll be re-reading it at some point I’m sure.

This Collection was really a mixed bag. Lots of different stories and none of them are really too similar in nature. Overall, most of them were worth the read.

- Daily Manga Marathon Club