manga review

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Lenni Reviews: “Like a Butterfly” Vol. 6, by Suu Morishita

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Kawasumi has asked Suiren on their first date and have some study time with their friends as they navigate this new territory in their relationship.

While it’s sweet to see these two together, I can see their hesitance becoming tedious as a reader after a while. Don’t get me wrong, they are very cute and Surien is not the typical popular girl as her internal dialogue is kinda sad but their naivete is going to run thin if we have to see every second of it on the page. I do like how they’re growing, though. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Special One” Vol. 6, by Momoko Koda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

While Sahoko and Kouta are enjoying their relationship; we take a break to spend time with Emika Nanase; an actress with a crush on an idol singer named Kanato Asuma. When she finally gets the chance to shoot a show with him, she tries to be as brave as Sahoko and confess her feelings.

Is it bad that I don’t care as much about Emika and Kanato as much as I cared about Kouta and Sahoko? Her motivation doesn’t feel as original as Sahoko’s, more like a generic crush to confession pipeline without the same back story as Sahoko. Emika focused her entire career as an actress around getting to Kanato which simultaneously is sweet and sad, since she’s not doing it for herself and she can’t focus on that job around her crush. I just didn’t find her fumbling endearing and wanted to go back to our main couple. 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 6, by Sui Ishida

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After being kidnapped from training camp; Sora Siruha tells Toki and his friends that a dark future lies ahead. Their hesitation to immediately obey her drives Tokio and the others to flee for their lives to avoid her wrath. The enormity of what they’re facing makes Tokio make a life altering decision.

There is one heck of a time skip after the big battle against Sora that’s really well done and pushes the characters into some interesting scenarios. The weirdo cult around Sora is genuinely creepy to me and it still tickles me that they had this big ole dramatic prophecy around Tokio and he just turns it down. It’s intriguing to see them all grow and I am curious to see how this will all play out because I’m getting the sense Sora is full of crap. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Alice in Borderland” Vol. 9, by Haro Aso

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

For Arisu and Chishiya there is only one face card left after their final confrontation with Niragi.

Niragi is one of those characters that makes me go “Why are you still here?” The entire time of the last appearance, I was just metaphorically tapping my foot for the Queen if Hearts part. I did wonder if the source material would have the same ending as the show and (spoilers, I guess???) it’s pretty much the same and I do like the way it’s handled. It’s creative and I think it’s more interesting than some huge ass battle or another game with math that gives me a headache. These omnibus editions were really satisfying and I had a lot of fun reading them. If you like these survival game stories, this is a good series. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fist of the North Star” Vol. 12, by Buronson & Tetsuo Hara

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

A warrior of honor, Jako, is forced to face Ken on behalf of an evil despot who holds Jako’s people hostage.

There’s a real odd cycle of the story picking a background character to die so Ken can have more motivation. I believe it’s super lazy to fridge all these characters for Ken’s benefit. He’s plenty powerful as he is. I never feel like he’d in danger and twelve volumes deep, we shouldn’t have to re-up his resolve with the blood of more interesting characters. He’s the most boring part of this volume. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Like a Butterfly” Vol. 5, by Suu Morishita

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After a confession, Kawasumi’s crush on Suiren becomes common knowledge and while she reciprocates, Kawasumi’s next obstacle is not only his complete lack of knowledge of how dating works but meeting Suiren’s parents.

Man, as cute as our main couple is, this volume makes me so damn happy I’m not in high school anymore. Since this isn’t one of those super depressing manga, I doubt this will lean hard into any real bullying from the other students like in a lot of other stories where what you’re looking at isn’t so much bullying as several violations of the Geneva Convention… Legit torture… But, there are plenty of other ways they can make Suiren and Kawasumi’s lives harder as the couple figure this whole romance thing out. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Stitches” by Hirokatsu Kihara & Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This is a horror anthology but is not like what I would typically gravitate to as a work featuring Junji Ito. It’s not a full on graphic novel. It’s a short story collection with illustrations from Ito in the same vein as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with a complete comic at the end as a bonus. The stories aren’t bad but the illustrations do NOT take advantage of how horrifying Ito’s art can be, which is shocking. How do you have Ito collaborate on a project and have him draw more than a puppet on the ground or a pretty girl dancing? The stories are decent, they give the sense of unease and do their job but holy crap was attaching Ito’s name to this a let down… 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dark Gathering” Vol. 6, by Kenichi Kondō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After using the Damned Sargent to acquire such a powerful spirit they all barely survive and need to rest up, giving Eiko some time to think about how dangerous all of this ghost hunting really is.

Eiko didn’t waffle very long as she decides with Yayoi to buy a cheap house to store spirits and the story behind this old house is fucked up. If you do not do well with body horror, you will NOT like this volume. It’s less funny and much more horrific than anything that’s come before it. Aside for the murder, there’s also incest so, trigger warning for all of that. I guess the most unbelievable part of this volume for me is a young person just having the money to buy a haunted house on a whim. *cries in post-capitalism America* 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Blade of the Moon Princess” Vol. 3, by Tatsuya Endo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In this volume, we get an update on the state of Kaguya’s mother, who is being held prisoner for experimentation. Kagyua displays a frightening amount of power and is in need of an alliance with the Matsu branch; who has a dark history with the moon kingdom.

This volume felt a little all over the place with the amount of information being thrown at me between what’s still going on on the moon, Kaguya’s increasing powers, the Matsu clan, and I wish it was more focused. I still enjoyed it but parts of this felt like homework and I had to re-read some parts to make sure I’d studied hard enough so I was prepared for what comes next. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love” Vol. 9, by Ayuko Hatta

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

On the School trip to Nagasaki, Satomi and Yagyu & Mira and Noda ponder what the future holds for them as they go into their final year of high school.

The ending is really sweet for these kids and makes for a low angst romantic series for those who like their teen romances fairly light and happy; complete with a happily ever after. It doesn’t go too far into their future but what we see is just enough to provide a satisfying ending as it is. 3.7 out of 5.

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