THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Well, that was some wasted potential. Not to pretend Phantom Seer was a great series before it got axed, though - While it had nice character work, mainly with the main characters Riku and Iori, the story itself was basic at best and the worldbuilding is really mediocre. The pacing also was on the fast side, leading to many character-related aspects being rushed or moved to flashbacks, it wasn’t great storytelling and it felt like the author wanted to move the story forward as fast as possible, and he somehow had to juggle also doing the characters justice. The worldbuilding, as I mentioned, is very mediocre. There is no explanation or establishment of a power system whatsoever except that every shaman has his unique powers, and that there are certain tools they can use. It mostly was just the manga telling us, the reader, what each character can do and we’re just like “yeah, sure.”. There is also zero exploration in phantoms in general, like how do they get created, what is their origin and why most of them want to torture and kill humans to begin with.

I’m not familiar with Japanese folklore or stuff related to it, so that would’ve been an opportunity to introduce readers like me to this, and it would give the manga more identity than being just a cardboard battle-shounen (just from a worldbuilding/plot standpoint). The setting and a lot of the abilities like Kenma using Tengus does lean into that area, after all. This barebone approach of having zero actual worldbuilding does work when you just look at it from a plot standpoint, but it’s hard to get interested and invested in a world which doesn’t feel well-constructed. I would also really say that the art by Kento Matsuura carried this title hard. The characters look so charming and their emotions are sold so well through the art. As I mentioned before, there is some nice characterization and character progression in the manga, and the drawings really are what make the important moments which count shine, and make you like the characters to begin with so you are emotionally attached enough to care. The snappiness also helps in the action segments of the series, and I found the paneling also especially to be extraordinary in the horror segments. That was the highlight of the last story arc, the dollhouse, too, where the dolls are just so creepily drawn and the tension was very neatly built up. Really want to highlight the art because it was what kept me going to finish this manga, to be honest. It also made me like the characters, and I kinda am sad that we won’t see more of them. I will see if Matsuura has drawn some other manga before, but he really carried this story and the storywriter didn’t manage to fully do the art justice. That’s pretty much all there is to say about Phantom Seer. I think there is wasted potential, I kinda liked the cast. Your talents may not necessarily align, but you can still do what you want. You don’t have to deny yourself. A nice message, really. And I liked how Iori and Riku both came full circle with this in the end. Maybe, it was also a nice way to end Phantom Seer here, instead of dragging it out, I don’t know. It still feels a bit like a pity, though - Still, overall it was an enjoyable read.