About the Mangaka

Not a lot of info on either Izubuchi Yutaka or Momose Takeaki, if you have any you know what to do :D

About the Manga

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Truthfully this series blew me away. While I enjoyed the anime I never saw it as something special. The manga therefore didn’t really appeal to me, but it was on special so I took the plunge :D

The manga and anime are the same, yet also totally different, as you’d expect from a manga. However I have to admit I much prefer the manga version, it’s both darker and funnier.

Art wise we have similar designs for some of the characters, but different designs for others.

The thing I liked about the art is the consistency, there were very few negligible changes throughout the series, which is awesome. The art in the manga is decidedly more ecchi, but not over the top wise. Rather unlike series with pointless ecchi content, the content here has a reason.

The other good thing is that the characters look more real, and normal. There’s no over the top babes, like in the anime, the girls are all normal. As a result I find them more alluring and sexier looking.

I do find I miss the design of Mishima from the anime, the manga version is to much like Hiroko for me.

Story wise, the flow is totally different from the anime. The core story is the same, but the way they get there is different.

On the one hand I like this version, as it delves into areas the anime glossed over. However the manga also leaves out a lot of stuff, such as what the Dolems and Vermilions are. This story does flow really well, and it draws the reader in, something a good manga should do.

The relationships between the characters has been drastically changed, and are both better and more comical in the manga. Certain key events are still here, though handled differently, giving the series a lighter, but darker feel.

I wish the series was longer than three volumes, this could easily have been made as a five or six volume series. The extra volumes would have allowed for greater depth and character building. Several of the characters in the manga are just to weird that they need the explaining. Also it would have allowed for more of the broader story to be explored.

Viz did there usual hatchet job, but it wasn’t to bad this time. I got the impression that someone was actually trying to keep things more like the original. A number of ‘dude’ and ‘babe’ do crop up now and again. As do the usual ‘Mr’ and ‘Miss” stuff. However these are sparse and easily ignorable.

The thing that surprised me was that the manga feels like it’s had only minor rewrites, rather than their usual butchery. As a result we have a very solid manga that was enjoyable to read.

It’s not going on my Essential Read list however. While I do like the series, and can recommend it for a good short read, it’s far from being good enough to go on my list. I am however now going for the novels as well. Hopefully they, being the original source, will fill in the blanks from the anime and manga.

Where to Buy

Note: Several places intermix the manga and novel, be careful which you buy. The five volume novel is released by Dr Master and the three volume manga by Viz.

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