Please note

This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime and manga are mostly my personal overall enjoyment. This review will contain spoilers, but all of them will be hidden using the spoiler tag. A big thank you to Nikz for proofreading my reviews and giving me feedback. TL;DR will be at the bottom.

Introduction

Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon) is a manga created by Hiromu Arakawa depicting the story of Yugo Hachiken. In a completely unexpected move, he enrols in the Ezono Agricultural High School. For what reason? Because it has dorms. Having no experience in agriculture, this is all a new experience to him, and he embarks on his very eventful high school years...

Plot

Already the plot is a little different to others in the same genre. There are not many high school manga's set in a agricultural setting, making this manga unique. Things start off already disastrous for Hachiken, with him finding himself lost in the vast landscape of Ezono High School. Luckily for him, Aki Mikage finds him and escorts him back to the school. This event sets the pace of how many situations will fold out in Gin no Saji. Many situations the characters find themselves in serve as the build up to comedic moments. Of course, the plot is not only comedic, it also has its serious moments too. The plot mostly follows arcs, when a major plot event or predicament ends, a new arc begins bringing something new. Each of the arcs had something about them that drew me in, where it be the events that were taking place or the characters. In some of the more gripping arcs of the manga, I could not put the manga down, I really wanted to know what would unfold next. Needless to say, the plot has a lot of farming elements incorporated into it, which only made it even more intriguing, perhaps because I have never read anything else alike it. Seeing what the characters were achieving through farming was fascinating, and I even got to learn some new things along the way. Overall, the plot is relatively simple to follow, and as a result of that it can be predictable at times, but that does not hinder the reading experience. As arcs ended, it was nice to see what the cast would face next, what problems they would have to overcome. The events were never boring and had flair, partly thanks to the agricultural setting. Despite its good points, the plot does suffer from pacing issues, especially in the later parts of the manga. The early parts of the manga are paced well, but as it progresses it becomes paced poorly, with events either happening too quickly or too much time being skipped. This is especially the case

Spoiler, click to view

after Hachiken's first year of high school, the next two years past by faster in comparison to the first, I did not even realise that Hachiken was in his third year of high school until they explicitly mentioned later. A considerable amount of time is skipped at certain moments, sometimes leaving one confused as to how much time actually passed, since the specific time is never really mentioned. The final few volumes of Gin no Saji felt a little rushed, with time passing with haste as well as the events. Partly due to this, the ending falls a little flat, in my opinion. The ending felt a little rushed and it would have been nice to see more, but it was not terrible.

Characters

Gin no Saji has a wide cast of characters, with all of them standing out in their own way. Yugo Hachiken is the main character, being hard-working and intelligent. He however, has no idea of what his dream is and what the future involves for him, and he sets out to find his answers as the events of Gin no Saji play out. His strong resolve was a joy to read, it carried certain arcs. He starts out as an introvert, but seeing him develop out of that was one of the most charming parts of the manga. At the beginning, his backstory and why he chose to enrol in Ezono is a mystery, making him even more engrossing. His character development was spread out throughout the entirety of the manga, making for a enjoyable reading experience. He could be annoying at times, but it he was not for long, and it was easy to get over. Aki Mikage is the second main character, who becomes Hachiken's love interest early into the manga. She is quite dense, unable to sense what others are feeling but she holds great kindness, and a love for horses. The most engrossing part of her character was the problems she faced, and the development she achieves as a result of that. Another character of interest is Ichiro Komaba. His personality is not that unique, as he is mostly a honest and serious character who excels in athletics. He does however, become the main character of interest in later arcs of the manga.

Spoiler, click to view

He does alas leave in later parts of the manga, with whole arcs going by with little mention of him. Fortunately, he does reappear.

Tamako Inada is another prominent character, one that certainly stands out from everyone else. She has an extreme love of money, and is quite skilful in handling it. She is also brutally honest, which can occasionally make her friends uncomfortable. Keiji Tokiwa is the trademark 'idiot' character of the manga. He is energetic, and a bit chaotic. Despite him doing very stupid things, it is hard not to love him. Mayumi Yoshino is one of the more prominent female supporting characters, who holds a cheerful personality making her easy to get along with. Her personality can be quite humorous at times, helping to deliver the light hearted tone of Gin no Saji. There are not many characters that were annoying or a pain to deal with, but three that come to mind are Shinei Ōkawa, Shingo Hachiken and Ayame Minamikujō. Ayame Minamikujō is very arrogant, always boasting about her high status and looking down upon on others. She reminds me a lot of Luviagelita Edelfelt, they even bear some similarities in their appearances. Even though she has an unlikable personality, she has her redeeming moments, eventually making it harder to dislike her completely. Shingo Hachiken is another character who can get a little irritating. He mostly serves as a intermediary between Yugo and his mother, showing up much to Yugo's dismay. His personality and his actions can be annoying, but he does not appear that often and has his good moments Finally, there is Shinei Ōkawa. For me, he was the most irritating character in Gin no Saji. He is simply devious, going out of his way to cause trouble for others if he is jealous of them. This happens very often, easily overshadowing his moments of redemption. There are more characters than I have mentioned, but for the sake of not making this review longer than it has to be I will not be discussing them in detail. The cast overall is good, Arakawa crafts a wide range of characters for us to enjoy and they all manage to get involved in the events that take place. They were all decently implemented into the story and were great to read.

Art

The art in Gin no Saji is charming and fits the setting quite well. Food is drawn with great detail too, making them wonderful to look at. The characters are all drawn well, and it deftly conveys their emotions to the reader. Hiromu Arakawa did well to craft a world full of colourful characters with settings that set the scene well.

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Comedy
Gin no Saji has a lot of comedy in it, with each chapter containing a moment of comedy at least once. Peppered throughout the manga are moments of build up to punchlines or the execution of a comedic moment, most of the time it being short lived. The characters find themselves in a wide array of comical situations multiple times throughout Gin no Saji. The character's personalities become more humorous, uplifting the comical nature of the situation. The comedic moments in Gin no Saji sometimes made me chuckle, but alas it can die down fairly quickly.

Spoiler, click to view

The format of the comedy also becomes quite predictable as one continues to read the manga. I will try to explain it to the best of my ability, but most of the time it goes like this, one page has the build up, with the last frame holding the reader, often ending on a jovial note, only for the next page to deliver the punchline, with it mostly turning out to be a minor predicament for the character (which most of the time is Hachiken). Once you understand this, it becomes very easy to know when comedic moments are going to take place, and thus it takes out the fun in it.

The comedy can also be unwelcome, feeling out of place and forced in. The comedy can make situations feel off, and bring it down. The comedy does have its moments though, it did help make the manga more enjoyable.

Conclusion and TL;DR

Despite its flaws, this manga served up to be a very enjoyable read. With its agricultural setting, it sets itself apart from others of the same genre. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a new slice of life with a unconventional setting. In summary:

• An engaging plot that is set in an agricultural setting, allowing the reader to learn and experience new things.
• The plot is paced poorly at times, more so in later parts of the manga.
• A wide cast of characters that all have good development, and are all implemented well into the story.
• Charming art that conveys the emotions of characters well.
• Comedy that either nails it or fails to do so.

Thank you to those who took the time to read this review. Hopefully you were able to get something out of it. If you did not like this review, then I apologise for wasting your time.