
a review by pyro81300

a review by pyro81300
Let's establish one thing here. This is not just a meme series, nor is it the story of the century. It's an action-focused shonen and if you've seen pretty much any other shonen you know what you're getting into. It's generic, BUT it's generic done well.
The story starts off somewhat amateurish, but you really start to see Takeru grow in both his writing and artistic ability rapidly. You notice very quickly that he knows how to balance things well. Exposition is done mostly well, and not just spammed with no sense of care (looking at you JJK and Bleach). Chihiro starts off seemingly edgy, but he very quickly is shown to be a very kind, level-headed young man, who's taken upon himself a very ambitious and bloody task.
There's only a few side characters that are well developed so far, but they've all gotten a notable amount of development. Char's arc is well done and emotional, and more recently Hakuri has blossomed into the type of ally everyone needs one of in their life. Villains are also fairly strong so far. They might be your classic irredeemably evil villains, but you will see them fight with all their might for their ideals. Sojo is a very fun first arc villain that exists as a great parallel to Chihiro.
The art is maybe the biggest draw of this series. Anyone who has seen the covers knows how clean they are, and its the same in the manga. The flow of the pages, the cinematography of the action, the way Takeru illustrates motion, etc. Perhaps an overused phrase, but it really does feel like you're seeing stills from a movie. The art evolution in general is crazy. You can really see him start to get comfortable drawing the characters, especially comparing someone like Char when she first appears to later on in say chapter 15 or 16. The most recent chapters have had some absolutely beautiful two page spreads.
On top of the action being well drawn, the battles actually feel tactful. They're not as complex as say HxH or Fate, but they don't need to be. Takeru creates a relatively simple power system and set of abilities for each character. And on top of everything else I described about Chihiro, he is quite clever. So far any wins he's gotten hasn't been determined by a power-up, but rather by creatively using his powers and using teamwork with his allies and their powers.
There's really not a ton left to say since this manga is only about in its 2nd arc right now. It still has a lot to proof before it can truly be considered one of the greats. And hey, it could still turn out badly in the future and fall off like most shonen, but for now I believe in Takeru. Enough time has passed to call this a solid series.
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