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I thought the art style was too simple and lacked effort at first, but the story itself is much more complex than I could’ve imagined. There’s so much focus on psychology and the effects of physical and mental illness that the characters feel very unique and well rounded. They each have their own ideologies and I like how that can be a source of conflict apart from external reasons. I ultimately don’t care about the result of the romance, I’m just looking forward to all the interesting developments in character and personality. I’m curious about the plot as well, I find it hard to imagine everybody can be saved after all.

It’s always disappointing to see something with such a unique concept and style start conforming to cliche and lose some of its artistic charm. I really liked it from the beginning, and it eventually just became boring and typical. There was some really good potential with the characters and could’ve had an interesting psychological development, but eventually just started focusing on the sexual relationship in a wildly unethical situation. It feels like both characters take advantage of each other nonstop, and I get that there’s a power imbalance and fucked up dynamic from the start, but instead of addressing that, they literally just have sex. It’s disappointing. I admit I’m unfamiliar with the story, since I read it a while back and haven’t been keeping up with it that much, so if someone disagrees with me I’d love to hear about why. I lost interest the moment they started having a sexual relationship, it felt awkward and kind of out of place to me. I get that there was sexual chemistry beforehand, but it didn’t feel like the characters themselves were in a place to act upon it. I could be wrong, though (like I said, I’m unfamiliar with it). I guess I’ve been gutted ever since the art style changed, it was one of my favourite things about it.

It’s very beautiful and combines a ‘steampunk’ aesthetic with some more ethereal and otherworldly elements. The art style reminds me of Witch Hat Atelier, which is also a manga I really like. I like the relationship between the main characters, there’s always something interesting in the concept of interaction between A.I and the human experience. I love the general atmosphere and such a good world building. There’s a lot of really cool directions this can go.

it’s one of my favourite romances ever (if not my absolute favourite). There’s so much care for the plot and the complexity of professional ballroom dancing, attention to the intensity of competition, and emotional tensions. It feels so much more than a romance as it developed, the characters are multifaceted and actually feel like people - their goals and aspirations come through instead of just being about the relationship, which I like. I wasn’t big on the art at first until it started to really grow on me, I have to appreciate how good the settings/backgrounds are. The characters are so expressive too, and they’re pretty visually unique; I’m a little tired of artstyles that make every character virtually the same. The romantic conflict itself is very interesting as well, I like how their personalities fundamentally oppose each other even though their chemistry is so natural. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of people impatient because it’s a slow-burn, but I feel like if either of them suddenly changed their minds in the chapters just released it would make no sense and be an insult to their characters. I don’t mind waiting if the story is written so carefully and methodically. I have faith in the author and I’m looking forward to the next volume. I’ll probably follow this manga to my deathbed if I have to.

can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s rare to see such a communicative and positive relationship in a manga. I get so weary of conflict from miscommunication, and it’s refreshing to see people actually talking to and understanding each other. The only thing not being communicated is their romantic feelings, and as this is a developing romance, that’s completely normal; I just like how it’s not brought down by stupid shit like misinterpretation of one another. It’s sweet and you get the feeling that they genuinely like each other as people instead of just having romantic chemistry. The dialogue is good without being too unrealistic, and the uncertainty/anxiety of falling for another person comes across well. Though the concept is not particularly unique, the way it’s executed is so charming I find it hard to fault it for that. It feels almost impossible to find a developing relationship written in this way, characters are nearly always immature and follow ridiculous tropes without given opportunity to feel like real and complex people. Like I said, it’s not conceptually anything out of the ordinary, but the author takes such great care of writing their characters I love it a lot anyway.

It feels more like a work of art than a storytelling medium. Normally I wouldn’t like it when an artist pays no attention to background/setting, but it works really well considering how masterfully the characters are drawn and framed. I love the grayscale with an accent colour, and I love the way there’s attention drawn to the characters and their psychologies. Since that is the focus of the story, the lack of background doesn’t bother me at all. It’s very sensual and ‘mysterious’ as well, I like the dialogue and how a lot of things are left unspoken for the reader to interpret. I think in general I don’t like it when an author assumes their audience is stupid and doesn’t leave things up for interpretation, which I don’t get from this at all. I might be a little biased because I have a total crush on hot women, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, lmao.

I didn’t like the characters from the beginning, but I stayed around for the plot, which I thought was interesting. There’s an overcommitment to making Zhenya the “cool guy” that just makes him look like an asshole. There are ways of being unbothered and cool without being invasive and a dick. I still like the plot, though, the elusiveness of Anastasia is actually what keeps me around. I sense a plot twist about what the “weapon” may actually be. The art is okay, you can tell that the author has not a lot of love for settings and backgrounds (which is fine), there’s a lot of focus on the characters instead. Truthfully I don’t know how much longer I can stand Zhenya. His behaviour is unlikeable and I grow very tired of authors trying and failing to make a character cool, because they end up making them a total douchebag instead

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despite the formatting issues, you can tell this is really carefully and lovingly written. I like the attention to detail with being historically accurate, the small additions of resistance against Japan’s colonization of Korea is not the main focus but its existence adds another layer of complexity that constitutes an interesting setting and context. I find the art very appealing. It has a summery atmosphere and the colors are vivid, which I’d normally think was unsuitable for the tone/plot, but manages to work really well. In the most recent chapters the sense of urgency was translated really well, the author is pretty good at setting the mood of scenes. I don’t really have any criticisms of the plot so far, it feels a little too early to have an opinion. It’s still a great start, though, and I’m hoping it keeps going in this direction.

I really like how the art compliments the way the story is told. It’s very soft and dreamy in a way that makes me think of picture books and bedtime stories from childhood. I love the kind of romance that is a little gentler and more hesitant that comes across really well in this. I’m just so charmed by the overall atmosphere and vibes, the characters are sweet, and there’s a kind of longing to experience this kind of falling in love. It tugs more and more at my heartstrings as I read. I really like it

I can always appreciate something made with good intentions and a genuine desire to tell a good story, but it is just so cliche and the whole thing feels like a giant anti-bigotry advertisement for preteens. The characters are given whole speeches preaching equality in a way that wasn’t just unrealistic, but made me cringe so hard my teeth nearly fell out. I don’t like feeling as if a story is trying to teach me a lesson, which this one made abundantly clear over and over again. It probably could’ve had something when it came to the plot, but the characters were utterly unlikeable, and the dialogue was ridiculous. There are ways of pointing out bigotry and making social comments against it without shoving it in the audience’s face like the author is assuming their readers are idiots that can’t interpret subtext. Overall it feels childish and cliche. Just my opinion, obviously, but not worth reading unless you want to feel like someone is preaching about anti-bigotry to you for 30 minutes. To each their own.

I have to admit I don’t care for the romance in this, but I’m much more interested in the ancient Egyptian mythology and culture, as well as much more humanized gods. I found the title interesting, as it seems like a reference to Vergil’s Aeneid (also translates to Ennead), which is about the founding of Rome. The Aeneid is essentially about Roman supremacy, and is very critical(/racist) of the Egyptian culture, which I found strange considering the story is literally about the Egyptian gods. I liked the stylistic choice to make the anthropomorphic gods ‘wear’ their respective animal heads instead of actually being anthropomorphic, and I’m a little bit in love with the character design of the sun goddess. I’m hoping that the title Ennead implies that there might be at some point an inclusion of the Roman gods, even though that’s probably just a stretch. I think it would be really cool to see another ‘cast’ of gods, just because I love the artist’s design of the Egyptian ones. Unfortunately I can’t be bothered with the romance, but I’m so in love with the execution of the idea and all of the art/design choices in the story.

It’s impressive how the author can take a cliche and unrealistic premise and make it unique and believable. I never liked the concept of letting a stranger live inside your house as the start of a romance, but somehow it works. There is focus on the interpersonal relationships as well as the plot itself without favoring one or the other. I find the characters very dimensional and require effort to understand, which is a nice change of pace from most romances that rely on the relationship instead of the individuals. I thought the title was inspired as well. It’s really well written.

I actually liked the quality of the art and how nearly every panel went into extreme detail. It had great use of lighting and color that showed the artist is very adept and knowledgeable about art, I really loved the scenery and every panel that focused on landscape (I felt the human figures were a little stiff, but that’s just me nitpicking). I was really taken aback when reading the afterword by the author, and the statement that they “hoped there was something more than just sex between gay couples.” The plot itself was typical, but relatively realistic and pretty heartfelt, so I was completely surprised to see the author was pretty much under the assumption that gay couples were fetish content. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth after I read it, which is a shame, because it genuinely had a lot of good things about it. I understand the intentions were to demonstrate feelings and non-sexual attraction, but it feels crazy for the author to assume that this is an exception (or uncommon). It’s okay if you liked the story, it is pretty good. I just find myself disappointed by the author’s preconceptions.

it’s a unique and bittersweet story. There’s something really heart-wrenching about taking your brother’s place and leaving your own identity behind for the sake of another person. It’s a beautiful concept, setting, and general atmosphere, I find the small elements of a woman’s role during the time period and how it affects the main character to be very interesting as well. It’s very ambitious to make it clear from the beginning that the story will most likely not have a happy ending. I’m still not discouraged from following along to see how it goes.

there’s already a certain moral dilemma that offers really interesting insight into both characters; I imagine it must feel horrible to sleep with the daughter of the person you indirectly killed, and vice versa. Right from the start, the element of guilt and unwanted pleasure from such an awful moral situation is an inspired way to keep the reader hooked (that is, in my experience). I do like ethical gray areas in stories - I don’t like immorality for the sake of making an “evil” character more evil, but as the consequences of real feelings and actions. I’m looking forward to seeing how this develops

it feels as if the story doesn’t know whether or not to commit to focusing on a romance or on a plot. I found the beginning to be pretty interesting, there was an effort to immerse the reader in the world and focused on small details like the method of telling time and the currency which I really enjoyed. As for the romance, I thought using sexual intimacy as a “cure” for magic sickness was not just incredibly lazy, but unromantic. It feels as an easy segue into a relationship, but not one I can get invested in at all. I’m certain there are hundreds of other options that the author could come up with that would cure magic sickness in a way that’s much more romantic than essentially meaningless sex. I really like the concept and the world building, I just wish the romance was different from the beginning. I find it hard to get invested now that it started in a way that feels off.

"It seems like I'd like someone like you.""You're really like a little pony...

Since murder-mystery type stories aren’t exactly my topic of expertise, I don’t know if I’m qualified to give an objective review, but I’m really impressed by this. There’s an element of horror and a general unsettling feeling that’s portrayed well without being over the top. I’d normally be put off by a sense of cliche, but at no point did I feel that way. The tone shift from what looked like a typical beginning into a murder mystery was really expertly done, in my opinion (I confess I didn’t read the tags or anything, so it took me by complete surprise). I’ve never been able to entirely predict what would happen next, which I like. I also find the obsessively artistic theme to be very interesting; there is a certain desperation that comes with making art that “matters,” and I thought using one’s own blood to paint was an extremely effective way of showing that desperation. It’s really well done, and I’m looking forward to the ending

After recently moving to Onomichi, Hiroshima, high school student Tasuku Kaname is thrown into despa...