Hiroya Oku

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Lenni Reviews: “Inuyashiki” Vol. 1, by Hiroya Oku

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Ichiro Inuyashiki lives a sad life with a family that doesn’t care about him, a dull job, and a dismal medical diagnosis of terminal cancer. One night while out walking his dog (the only creature that seems to care about him) he sees a blinding light and wakes up hours later in the park. At first it seems nothing’s changed but Inuyashiki realizes his body has been drastically altered.

This is a bleak but solid start to the series. Inuyashiki’s life is just depressing and seeing him get a little bit of happiness is genuinely touching. This volume sets up the twist happening in his life and a possible conflict with another person who has also been changed. Oku also made Gantz and as such that series gets more than a nod here. It’s fine to do that but the story stops dead in it’s tracks so two characters can debate if Gantz is good or not. I ended up skipping over that part to get back to the main story and I honestly hope that doesn’t happen again. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol 8, by Hiroya Oku

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As “Satan” closes in on Japan, Chiho teams up with the time travelers to defeat the creature.

This volume is mostly action, which makes for a really fast read. The Time Traveling Underwear Brigade did teach Chiho some new tricks besides exploding out from the inside of the demons. That’s a spectacle to see, of course, but these new guys are a fighting force familiar with these creatures, so it’s nice to see how they’ve been handling fighting them in their time. This was fun and I’m looking forward to the next one. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol 7, by Hiroya Oku

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After it’s leaked that Chiho was in a relationship with a high schooler, they decide to end things so Rei can be a normal teenager while Chiho withdrew from public life. However, a group of time travelers appear in her apartment who want her help saving humanity.

Finally we find out what the ETE is, how it came to be, and who the weirdos in their underwear are. It’s ok reasoning but the majority of this volume is the set up for the battle against “Satan” who’s destroyed most of the U.S. at this point. I thought the time travelers were going to be an American team that were gonna get overwhelmed and ask Chiho to come help but this is alright. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol 6, by Hiroya Oku

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Now that Chiho is famous worldwide, her relationship with Rei has added stress; especially since he still a high school student years younger than her. They try and go on vacation to get away from it all but the world is still in danger.

Still waiting to get filled in on these randoms running around in their underwear who can turn into giants and have powers. This volume is all filler. I bet you could skip it since the main takeaways from this are the weirdo team likes instant ramen and Chiho shouldn’t be dating a high schooler. I just saved you a bunch of time. I really want this series to get back on track with Chiho beating down monsters. 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol. 5, by Hiroya Oku

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The three “Gods of Destruction” have descended on Tokyo and Chiho is released from government detention to help battle them.

The cat is fully out of the bag now. Chiho is famous worldwide but she keeps her relationship with Rei a secret. The fame completely changes her life and attracts people who want to take advantage of her. Meanwhile, a similar group of heroes in America are in trouble with a demon on the loose despite the ETE website supposedly shut down.

I’m not surprised at the dramatic turn in Chiho’s life and it’s good to see her (mostly) happy. This is clearly moving in the direction of other super beings teaming up with Chiho to beat the demons and I look forward to the reveal of how that all happens. Fanservice and sex scenes aside, this is an interesting adventure. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol. 4, by Hiroya Oku

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With Chiho in prison, more monsters rage through the city, killing thousands. Rei and his family are almost inured to it, waiting to go about their lives once the Self Defense Forces to mop up after they release Chiho to kill the creatures. But the threat escalates, leaving Chiho struggling in her efforts to defeat them.

First off, as a well endowed woman myself, seeing Chiho run around without a bra makes my chest hurt in sympathy.

There’s a good bit of action in this volume and we’re moving towards Chiho becoming a hero that works for the government. We don’t learn much more about anyone, least of all Chiho but fanservice aside, she’s brave and strong. I like following her through this madness. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol. 3, by Hiroya Oku

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With Rei in danger, Chiho decides to come out of hiding and defeat the creature attacking Tokyo. Now the connection between the E.T.E. website and these insane events are public knowledge as well as Chiho’s identity and abilities.

This series is bananas. It’s madness and I’m somehow completely okay with that. I’m invested in Chiho and how she’s going to factor into these weird requests to the E.T.E. and we see there are other giants like her in other countries. So, there’s some moves happening that we don’t know about and I am here for the ride! 3.7 out of 5 because we’re getting more sex scenes than I’d like. I kept skipping them to get back to the story.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol. 2, by Hiroya Oku

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This manga is recommended for mature readers.

While Chiho gets used to her powers, Rei finally gets up the nerve to ask her to be his girlfriend. Meanwhile, the E.T.E. (Enjoy The End) website continues to send strange and horrific events to Tokyo; including a giant that arrives the same day Rei is in the city with his parents.

Most of this volume is Rei and Chiho dating and the action is a cliffhanger at the end. While mundane, it is a chance to get to know Chiho, which I think is important because both in and out of this universe, people sex workers are human beings deserving of respect. However, this could have been done with less downtime and less sex scenes. I get that Rei is a horny young man but I don’t need to see every time he gets laid. I’m here for the giant woman punching giant monsters. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Gigant” Vol. 1, by Hiroya Oku

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Rei Yokoyamada is a student who wants to make short films of his own but is more likely to watch porn, specifically from the adult film star known as “Papico.” “Papico” is the stage name for Chiho who happens to help a very odd man after he is hit by a car but ends up with a strange device attached to her wrist that can make her change her size.

This is… Strange. And kinda all over the place, which makes sense since this is the same author as GANTZ. It’s hard to judge as this volume throws a ton of information and I do wonder where all this is gonna go. I am tentatively intrigued by the premise and Chiho and Rei are ok characters so far but I haven’t connected with them enough to say whether I like them or not. 3 out of 5.

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