NO SPOILER REVIEW: Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist

I will be talking about the pros and cons of the characters, plot, and artwork. There will be no spoilers such as major plot points mentioned in this review.

Scoring:

5 - Perfect, 4 - Good, 3- Average, 2- Bad, 1- Garbage

[+] - PROS [-] CONS

Synposis:

The story begins when Aki Fujino, a beautiful girl who the novelist Mizorogi knew, dies under mysterious circumstances. Then a girl appears before Mizorogi, and although she introduces herself as Aki's twin sister Sakura, her true identity is a complete mystery. As Mizorogi's past ties with Aki come to light, people begin to suspect him of plagiarism. Mizorogi's life spirals deeper into darkness as his editor and the police probe further into Aki's death and Mizorogi's connection with her.

Is this manga for you?

If you love psychological /mystery manga that challenges your mind, forces you to piece all the pieces together, and keep you clueless about what is going on until the end, then you will love utsubora.

Plot: 5/5

Utsubora plot is very confusing in a good way, filled with hidden/deep messages, and follows an odd timeline order that can only be full understood when re-read or analyzed.

[+] Good pacing maintaining suspense from beginning to end.
[+] Utsubora has a confusing timeline which when pieced together is very rewarding.
[+] Themes such as identity, loneliness, depression, emptiness, the purpose of life are executed nicely.
[+] Realistic portrayal of the pressure mangakas face in the manga industry.
[+] A rewarding ending that answers most questions, leaving some questions open-minded.
[+] Has a good re-readability factor.

Characters: 4/5

Utsubora mainly focuses on the 2 main characters Mizorogi and Sakura, whilst side characters interact with the main characters to give more personality to the main characters.

[+] The main characters Mizorogi and Sakura,are very mysterious, well-written characters with good depth.
[-] Side characters are not important to the story and lack depth, however for a 13 chapter manga I wasn't expecting much focus on the side characters.

Art : 3/5

The artwork was average but was easy to follow and the art style fits the story.

[+] Some interesting and creative panels.
[-] Character design is average, the geometry of the characters can be unrealistic sometimes.
[-] Background art is average, nothing amazing.
[-] Some dialogue boxes are placed in confusing places, leaving me confused on which character is speaking.

Summary

I personally enjoyed reading this manga and just being confused after every chapter. This manga has a very well-thought-out complex plot that will leave you clueless but when you re-read the manga and start piecing everything together, you will have a very rewarding re-read. The main characters bring up interesting issues and dialogues that will make you think a lot. Artwork such as character design could have been better and the side characters could have been more interesting and useful to the overall plot. For a manga that only has 13 chapters, utsubora surprised me with its unique and complex plot.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND
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