nathandouglasdavis

I was very wary going into this, because I've seen such a large number of lolicon elements within various manga that I've grown to expect manga to develop in that sort of way whenever it gets anywhere near those sort of elements. But it turned out to be a very wholesome story with a very empathetic tone. The child character, Chiaki-chan, might perhaps have a crush on the adult character, Kiyoka-san, or it could be that Chiaki-chan just looks up to Kiyoka-san. The most important thing though is that even if we are supposed to interpret Chiaki's feelings as a crush, the adult character... See full review

I'm not sure how long this manga can remain interesting, considering that what makes it work is seeing all the weird and unexpected ways that Reese uses defensive magic and an unattributed state. Eventually, I assume the author will run out of ideas for novel things that Reese can do and, at that point, I suspect that this manga's ability to entertain me will fall off a cliff. But at the moment, I have to admit that I have found this manga entertaining. Reese could be seen as an overpowered main character--because fe's so much more powerful than many of the people around fem--but the overpoweredness feels... See full review

The way the characters act doesn't make much sense. And the story leans far too heavily on the mystery and draws things out too long, when it could've probably spent that time delving into things more deeply or deepening the world-building in some way. I will say that the aesthetics of the deteriorating hallways and general mold-ery is pretty cool-looking, though I don't really understand why piping ending up developing. I think this manga mainly falls into the gross-out type of horror story.

The biggest problem with this manga is that it's propaganda in support of maintaining the status quo written in response to real-life protests that were going on at the time that this was written (which you can read about in this Wikipedia article). You know how some people will accuse protests of being filled with paid protesters as a way to ignore the complaints of the protesters? Or how some people will latch onto any sort of infighting or disagreements within the protest... See full review

I've enjoyed this series. It's very possible that Noel is being overly dick-ish, but I still enjoy seeing the schemes that fe comes up with. I'm also not entirely sure how I feel about the harem-y way we get several female characters fawning over Noel, but that annoyance is largely alleviated by the fact that there are also quite a few male characters who fawn over and idolize Noel (so it's not so much a harem fantasy as just a general power fantasy...which I guess could also be kinda annoying to some...). I will say that I very much appreciate how Noel has a lot of limitations to how overpowered fe is and... See full review

So the singular idea which Junji Ito has decided to build a story around this time is basically a combination of a song being stuck in your head with tinnitus (the medical condition where there's a constant ringing in someone's ear). The cause is verified to be supernatural in the middle and then it turns just straight-up weird during the climactic final moments. I find the artwork quite nice and I especially appreciate the singer's singing face. This is decent, but not great. 

This story has been pretty alright, largely just because the premise of having video game characters be actual people with lives and thoughts of their own is a decent enough premise. I think this manhwa does a decent job of portraying the fear and more negative emotions, which definitely does help to add to the tone. My biggest complaint is probably that it feels like Han isn't doing much of anything to get out of this situation. Like, Han accepts the idea that fe's stuck within this world very readily (and those who spend time trying to find ways out are seen as cowards who just don't want to... See full review

The adorable character design for this cat feels wasted on a four-page gag comic that's barely even funny. I don't think I'd recommend reading this if you're looking for any sort of engaging storyline or characters, but if you're just wanting to look at some pretty artwork then these pages could probably satisfy that desire.

This is a collection of four oneshots. The synopsis is only describing the first oneshot. I liked the first oneshot a decent amount. I'd probably rate it as a 6 or 7/10. It's a pretty low-stakes survival story, but that does make it feel a bit more relatable. I liked the moral of the story, as it were, that you shouldn't label people as "useless" and instead it's better to recognize and appreciate their strengths. The second oneshot is possibly my favorite. I'd probably rate it as an 8/10. The premise for this one is that a girl overhears a guy presumably agreeing to a bet with... See full review

Whenever I find a series like this one that immediately hooks me and makes me fall in love with it, it makes me feel like all the time I spend sifting through mediocrity and crap is actually worth it. I think what sets this manga apart for me is the characters. The storyline also feels kinda distinct--it has the childrearing element (which feels like it should be in a wholesome manga instead) mixed with the fighting and gore--but the characters still easily outshine it. The motives for the characters are distinct from one another and actually mesh together in such a way as to create natural tension... See full review

The artwork is crappy. There are weird and ugly decisions made with the eyes. There are far too few details in the backgrounds and the characters are also quite simplistic and generic in their designs. The characters are...better than the artwork, I guess? But they are still within the "crappy" range, I'd say. The main characters are the dead-eyed boy, Yuuki, and the "seatmate killer" girl, Yui. Yuuki doesn't let things bother fem and basically has nerves of steel. Yui was given the nickname "seatmate killer" because fe is friendly with the people sitting next to fem. Yui... See full review

Synopsis: Mayumi feels extreme option paralysis, to the point that fe doesn't even feel able to blink without somebody assuring fem that blinking would be a good action to take. So helper are hired to follow Mayumi around every waking hour and guide fem through everything. Uchida Mitsu is the first such helper who seems to be able to actually stand the job and Mayumi has been able to live a relatively normal life because of Mitsu's help. My Opinion: I think that taking something that is generally relatable (like option paralysis) and dialing it up to an absolutely absurd degree is a good starting point for... See full review

I read through these eight chapters a few years ago and then sat on it, passively waiting for me chapters to come out. I didn't write a review at the time because I try not to review things until there are at least ten chapters available, to try to make sure they've had a chance to develop at least a bit. So the marriage aspect is obviously the aspect which sets this manga apart from other isekai stories. On the one hand, that marriage aspect is kinda awkward because of the age difference and the fact that Liz is still in the midst of adolescence. On the other hand, since this aspect is what makes it... See full review

This series entertains me in a similar way as Volcanic Age. It's based in the Murim world, with the large number of sects and the evil groups self-identifying as evil (or "unorthodox") and all that jazz. Our protagonist, Jinmu, has the life experience from a previous life (where fe was a powerful evil dude). In this life, Jinmu has taken over the body of a disciple of the Wudang sect. The humor and intrigue within this series largely comes from seeing Jinmu acting brazenly and self-centeredly, but still being interpreted as a decent member of the righteous ascetic sect where fe... See full review

This manhwa is also known as "Love Limit Exceeded" in some translations. And while it is definitely a high-quality work that I'd probably recommend to anybody looking for some erotic content, it should be noted that this work has been on hiatus for over a year (I believe because the author is recovering from surgery?) and this story was still in the build-up stage of its narrative arc. We had the characters and the relationship dynamics all laid out and the beginnings of some drama, but things hadn't really developed fully and definitely hadn't reached any sort of climax. It's still... See full review

This is a collection of fourteen oneshots about space travel and aliens and arks finding new planets for humanity to live on and loneliness and self-sacrifice. The majority of the artwork ranges from bad to mediocre, with only a few pieces being actually on the good end of the scale. Similarly, the majority of the stories within this collection are pretty underwhelming and even bad. The constant of gravity shifted within our universe and caused life on Earth to become unfeasible, so an ark has been traveling with its crew members in hibernation to try to find a new habitable planet. The crew members... See full review

The twist in this story was fine, I guess, but I think it went a bit too far with the coincidences and it just felt more contrived than compelling. I think this could've been avoided in two ways: it could've either done some foreshadowing in the earlier part of the story or it could've been a bit less specific in how Takahashi was connected to the things going on (like by having a different family background or something). I'm also not convinced that the twist actually added much to the meat of the story at all. Like, I feel like there could've been some other way for Takahashi to have shown that... See full review

Review start now: This manhwa doesn't have a strong overarching plotline; it's moreso episodic. The first story (ch. 1-3) has Jang Geon fighting some peeps in a saloon and members of an evil sect. In the second story (ch. 4-8), Jang Geon is traveling through the desert space and fights a bandit group whose leaders have learned demonic arts while helping some peeps get to a town for a doctor. The third story (ch. 9-16) gets into some fresh narrative space and involves Jang Geon fighting some peeps from some sort of clan. And the fourth story has just begun, so I know not what it will be about. Possibly a... See full review

This doujinshi starts out with two hooks that help draw the reader in: 1) Rio is the sister of Haruto's best friend, and 2) Rio is five years older than Haruto. Now, let's ask ourselves "why do these function as hooks?" And it should be immediately clear that the author is playing into the abnormality of their dynamic. Abnormalities can function as hooks in two basic ways: They can feed into a desire to gawk at things which are different. Think circus sideshows. But I don't think this manga is really playing into this gawking sort of enjoyment (partially because the age gap isn't visually... See full review

This has been pretty cute. Specifically, the romance element and watching the teasing and awkwardness from the two of them having to pretend that they're in love with each other.  I will say that I would've preferred if this story actually had two solid protagonists who each contributed to the strategizing and whatnot. Or at the very least, where Cordelia didn't just largely come across like a sidekick and romantic interest for Yuder. I mean, the whole hook is that there are two people who've both been transmigrated into the bodies of their game characters, so it feels like it would've been... See full review

This is a story about all-nighters and about how our modern society overloads workers, which can lead to people being unable to properly engage in self-care activities. This manga is specifically focusing on a mangaka, but this problem is by no means exclusive to mangaka. Though, to be clear, this manga isn't really about the overwork as much as it is about the maid who the mangaka has hired to help relieve some of feir burdens and also be a source of emotional eye-candy. And that's what this maid is for the mangaka--eye candy. The author tries to make their dynamic romantic, but the romance is made... See full review

The penguin, Pen, tries feir hardest, but the owner, Hayakawa, rarely actually appreciates Pen's efforts. Each chapter basically consists of Pen doing human activities such as cooking or chores with great skill. And many of Pen's actions are fem trying to do something nice and/or considerate for Hayakawa. And many chapters end with Pen getting feir hopes up (that feir efforts will be appreciated) only to then have those hopes shattered. It's pretty cute. Not amazingly cute and a bit repetitive, but alright enough. There are some interactions with side characters that help keep things a little bit fresh... See full review

This is what's known as a nostalgia piece--a story with the sole purpose of reminding readers of previous enjoyments. I suppose this piece could serve as an epilogue of sorts to the main series. Though if you actually read it in conjunction with the main series, then it sorta just comes across like the author is floundering as to how to tie things up. And if you read it separately from the main series (as I did), then it just feels strange to have the majority of these pages filled with reintroductions to these characters only to then have it not lead to anything of note.

This is only four pages long, so there's not much that I can analyze or say. The biggest thing I can say is that I found this quite disappointing. The core premise (I assume) of there being a relationship that looks abusive from the outside but which is actually consensual and fine is a premise that could've allowed for an interesting story. But this story isn't actually portraying that sort of relationship. Instead, the relationship it portrays is moreso a toxic one where one of the partners is telling femself that what's going on isn't actually abuse and allows it to continue even though it's not... See full review

The ending of this story was largely cute (though I did sorta have to gloss over the fact that Nio is in middle school...), and I liked the way Shiva's urge to destroy was brought into things. I liked the interactions that involved Chidori the most, probably. I was disappointed that the potential drama with Shiba meeting Shiva just fizzled into nothing. Several of the earlier chapters feel like lackluster fluff--setting the stage so Nio can reminisce about their good moments together during the ending more than actually being all that compelling on their own. There are extra little snippets thrown in... See full review

I would say that the most interesting quality of this manga is the sense of offness about having a crybaby fighter. It sorta reminded me of how Vash from Trigun's hook was that fe was a pacifist gunslinger (though obviously this manga veers far more into the psychopathic direction towards the end). And I suppose I appreciate how this manga is definitely not making the fighters look cool as a lot of fighting manga are wont to do (or at least the fighters didn't come across as cool to me). That said, I think this manga is still subtly glorifying a hyperviolent form of masculinity--like in the way all the... See full review

This is the sort of story where I feel like the author had something from the real world which fe has beef with and is lampooning (if that's the right word). And as best as I can tell, it seems like a critique of virtue signaling and performative justice and hypocrisy related to people acting differently in the public eye versus in private. And it might also possibly be a critique of the neoliberal emphasis on equality over equity. And honestly, all of those things are actual problems in the real world. I have two complaints. My first is that, because of the way things are structured, it almost seems... See full review

This isn't...horrible. It's just not all that interesting. The relationships between the main character Mylene and feir admirers (i.e. Albert and Colette) are shallow and exaggerated in the worst kind of way. The artwork is the best part, and I'd still say that it's only pretty good. I do like Mylene's eyes quite a bit, though, and the fights are drawn decently well. The story sorta plays into the space of a villainous trying to avoid the bad ending, but only in the most surface-level sense. The bad ending seems to be super easily avoided, so that premise doesn't play much of a part at all in the story... See full review

So this is a comedy first and foremost, and barely even counts as a romance (in my opinion). Some of the comedy comes from Yaeko's exaggerated poses, but most of it comes from the discrepancy of seeing things that are serious being treated with levity and seeing things that are morally wrong (because of a lack of consent) being almost normalized and treated as just a kinky preference. I will say that I was hoping to see more examples of a bunch of perverts being drawn to Yaeko and was a bit disappointed that that aspect of Yaeko's life experience was pushed to the background after the introductory... See full review

Maybe I'm just surprised because I had such low expectations for this manga (from seeing far too many fluffy, wholesome school-age romance manga), but I actually enjoyed this manga quite a bit.  Each chapter is pretty short, but each chapter actually feels like it has substance and is contributing to the overall storyline and character arcs. There aren't any fluff chapters. There aren't any filling tropespace chapters. It's all quite well-written and quite original. I read this and it makes me feel "why do all those other school-life romances feel the need to rely so heavily on cliches... See full review