Yamamoto Zenjirou to Moushimasu

delolmo Aug 26, 2017

8

I am so conflicted with this manga. I loved so many parts of it but I also felt the story fell short in several areas that could have been better developed. This review contains some spoilers. Story I am relatively new to the “supernatural” theme in manga but the premise was interesting to me for what it was, a small child with an odd gift of seeing spirits and struggling to live her normal life. Granted the theme is not necessarily original, I felt the art and characters made it much better. The fact that the character of Hayami was so mysterious and ever present peeked my interest and kept me on my toes through the whole thing. I also enjoy the emotional moments that were ever present and the fact that the manga is relatively short making it a quick read. Now to the negatives. SPOILER ALERT. From the very beginning I could not understand why Hotate was living with her grandmother and then why she was told she was to live with her uncle rather than her father? I mean, the guy appears to be very loving so I am not sure why would he not be with Hotate and raised her from when she was born. Why would he come to the picture now and pretend to be her uncle? I am so confused about such huge events. The role of the teacher was also confusing to me, for a moment I thought she could see spirits too but then other chapters hinted that she did not so I was so confused about this too. Also, the time when Hotate meets Hayami made little sense to me, he almost made her get hurt, was he trying to kill her or what? Then it is seen that Hotate can see the past or sense it while her father can see the future. Yet, he knew Hotate would get hurt and let her go to the very trip that may have killed her anyway? It does not make sense. Lastly, the ending… OMG THE ENDING! Why? Why would the mangaka end it there? It wasn’t bad because some things got addressed and it is a relatively happy ending but somehow it felt empty to me. This manga could have been much better had it had at least once chapter as an epilogue to address what happened with Hayami’s psycho mother and perhaps some loving moments between our protagonist now that they are both alive. There was so much build up to the moments when Hayami would wake up from his comma for the manga to just end in that scene in the hospital. Art I loved the art so much! The character design was very good too. I am not an expert on this area so not much more for me to say here… Characters Hotate is a very likeable character so I was glad to see her as the protagonist of the story. She is kind and loving, but overall, very honest. I absolutely loved her! Hayami is the mysterious spirit that becomes friends with Hotate. At first glance he seems like some arrogant brat but his true caring nature surfaces little by little. I want to think he fell in love with Hotate despite the age difference and found the strength he needed to want to live and recover from his comma. The friendship between them is beautiful, but love is also hinted at in my opinion which made the story even better. Hotate’s father is an enigma to me for the reasons explained in the “story” section. None of his decisions make sense to me so I could not understand him or like him. Overall I enjoyed the manga since it’s relatively short and of course complete. The characters are very interesting and the art is beautiful. With that being said, there are major issues with the plot as it makes little sense in various aspects. Despite these issues, I found the manga enjoyable. I would have loved for there to be more fanction exploring the future of these characters but since there is none, I just could not help but feel as if something was missing by the end of the manga.