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Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 1, by Sui Ishida

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

Tokio and Azuma volunteer to assist in the search and rescue efforts at a plane crash were even though the plane was said to be on fire, all the passengers survived. Such a strange event is rumored to involve a choujin – a person with supernatural abilities – and an encounter with a bully with such powers puts the friends in the direct path of a choujin’s wrath.

Even though this is the start to a series, I feel like I’m missing some back story. The concept, action, characters, and what’s been revealed so far are fucking amazing and I absolutely want to continue reading. Maybe the next volume will fill in some gaps for me. Tokio is a great reluctant hero. This is the same creator as Tokyo Ghoul and I can see a bit of commonality in the protagonists but they’re not exactly the same. So far, my favorite is Ely. She’s adorable and has an awesome design. 4 out of 5.

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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: “Fist of the North Star” Vol. 7 by Buronson & Tetsuo Hara

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

Ken faces the Holy Emperor, a tyrant who kidnaps and enslaves children.

Now, I like this series and I understand that in order to be a threat, the villains have to actually show they’re dangerous but I’ve never been a fan of a lot of collateral damage surrounding the main conflict. And the main showdown didn’t even happen so this ends on a cliffhanger. It just didn’t seem as thrilling as other volumes; it just felt like disaster porn. 3.8 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: “Crazy Food Truck” Vol. 2, by Rokurou Ogaki

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

Gordon and Arisa are still traveling the dry apocalyptic wastelands, following the trail of various ingredients to use in Gordon’s cooking. But a former subordinate of Gordon, Kyle, is sent to retrieve them and is paired with a young woman with abilities like Arisa’s named Myna. Myna also happens to be Arisa’s little sister.

I think it’s funny that this is part post apocalyptic adventure and part cooking tutorial. There’s a good balance of the food stuff and action so one doesn’t overpower the other or grinding the story to a halt to have a random cooking session. I can tell there’s a bigger story brewing but this volume is some good, goofy fun. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Levius/est” Vol. 10, by Haruhisa Nakata

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

It’s Levius versus Arthur battle in an underground arena where the secrets behind MMA are exposed.

While the action is cool, I got confused when it came to the MMA and the heart and what the steam is. I was just coasting through the volume without much investment. When I have time, I may go back and start the series from the beginning and see if I change my mind but the ending left me feeling neutral about the whole thing. My lasting impression wasn’t deep enough for me to say much about it when it came to writing down my thoughts for a review. Not a bad series overall, though, 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: “Fist of the North Star” Vol 6, by Buronson & Tetsuo Hara

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

This volume’s main focus is the showdown between Ken and Kenoh/Raoh, the most powerful of the brothers who trained together. After it ends, (spoilers, kinda?) Ken goes back to beating down various baddies across the dusty landscape. We do get to know Mamiya, who finally does something for a bit before getting sidelined again. I’m glad to see her around more and being involved in the plot in ways that aren’t cheerleader or hostage (although that still happens) and the volume ends at a point where I wonder if she will be more integral to the plot in the future.

Aside for that little nitpick, the battle between Ken and Roah is amazing; great art and action even though the dialog is very bombastic. But, it all fits together well. 4 out of 5.

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