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Jun 26, 2023
Ore Monogatari is desperately sincere in its romance to the point of idealism. Its for that very same reason, though, that I kind of love it? The overly schmaltzy back and forth between Takeo and Yamato can border on the tired side in those first ten chapters, I’ll admit – But the moment conflicts that potentially put their relationship on the rocks (at least from the characters perspective) start to involve themselves in the form of short storylines, the depth of the series really starts to show it’s hand and reading through becomes that much more engaging.
In many many ways Takeo is the perfect
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character; embodying a can-do-everything teen towering over everyone around him. In any other series I would immediately lambast Takeo for being one-note or “too perfect” but the story allows itself to have its cake by infusing him with a whole lot of self-doubt and loathing that ends up making him overlook some of the best aspects of himself. Though he starts from what is already perfection, Takeo recognizes when he feels the need to subvert that perfection for the sake of taking other’s feelings into consideration and allows himself plenty of room to continue growing into someone much greater as the story goes on. The burden of doubt isn’t his alone to bare and the series makes it a point to acknowledge that some of these personal mental battles can’t be won alone; that even a character like Takeo can feel pain and those who have been impacted by his kindness will respond with that very same kindness to help him out. The last chapter really highlighted his impact as all our major and minor characters come to Takeo in his moment of mental weakness. In that scene, it really felt as if Ore Monogatari had really crafted a great ensemble cast of memorable characters and that those characters were naturally justified in their willingness to help. Also, I would be lying (and since it’s worth mentioning) if I didn’t say that Takeo’s fantastic character design didn’t boost his likeability by a wide margin from the outset.
Touching a bit more about character’s other than Takeo, Sunakawa’s stance in the first chapter that rejection to girls comes easily to him insofar as those girls continue to talk badly behind Takeo’s back was a writing decision that forever kept me endeared to his person. Sunakawa only continues to be ever introspective and loving to his friend which goes very far in making me happy. Yamato, though pretty boring on her own, ends up getting a whole lot of mileage with a fair amount of comedy and a whole lot of cuteness (?) through her interactions with Takeo. Their romance feels almost too white and pure but is roped in fairly well due to how natural some of the dialog can be and the amount of chemistry that’s illustrated through it. I get a feeling that I end up caught in my own triangle where I love Yamato because Takeo loves Yamato and Yamato loves Takeo and I love Takeo so in turn I love Yamato because she thinks he’s pretty neat and so do I.
What I’m trying to say is that they are quite literally perfect for each other and what a great way for the series to end on a note directly addressing to the audience that their romance is not an exception or special – it’s common, real; that anyone can have what these characters have because everyone has someone out there to love and to be loved back. Overly idealistic, and I love it that way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 12, 2021
It's more than easy to say that this is the weakest out of the four Slam Dunk films currently available. This series does a pretty good job balancing it's character drama with the high intensity basketball games it's known for. However, for this not-quite-feature-length movie, the character drama seems to take center stage with middling results. Oda Tatsumasa, a former junior high classmate of Sakuragi's, loathes the idea of having the former delinquent turned "basketball genius" play on the same court as him. Oda finds the head to head match against Sakuragi's school the perfect opportunity to disgrace him and thus purifying
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the sport from soiled hands. Sakuragi, as stubbornly confident as ever, intends to wipe the floor with Oda (despite his relatively weak grasp on the sport at this point in the series) for even suggesting that his justification for joining the sport is too shallow and, therefore, doesn't deserve to play it. Meanwhile, the relationship of Oda and his girlfriend is....also here. This is where the problems start to arise.
Oda isn't exactly an interesting character, but when the focus shifts to one more concerned with his relationship to his girlfriend, the result ranges from boring to unfortunately laughable. A scene depicting Oda slapping his girlfriend for even suggesting that basketball has made him a more unlikeable person with something missing in his life is a good summation of the two aforementioned results. The placement of this character detour also contrasts pretty poorly with this series' patented comedy. Most of the charm of this film is placed strictly on Sakuragi's shoulders as he boldly shows his passion for basketball (whether he knows it or not), injuring himself multiple times in the process. This culminates in the movie's climax, in which Sakuragi makes one last desperate lunge off court as he tries to save the basketball for his team. He succeeds right before slamming face-first into a wall and rendering himself immobile for a few seconds. In those seconds, the jeers of the crowd fall silent and a lone standing ovation from the opposing team's coach is heard. And then they all clapped :) . This scene not only goes on for way too long, as it pans to every character's reaction before clapping themselves, but it also throws away the character conflict in this film. Oda, amongst the cheers, reaches out to help Sakuragi up--immediately acknowledging him as a sportsmen without words or transition despite his constant undermining of him up until this point. I'd like to commend it for it's subtly, but all of this comes of as really cheesy (and not in a good way as seen in the third film). Then the match is just...over. We never see the end of the match because the movie opts to transition to the two teams coaches post-game after the clapping scene. I haven't mentioned the basketball match itself due to the very forgettable nature of it in this film; to have the end of the game not even shown tells me that the focus isn't really on the match, but on the characters instead (which one could imagine how that might make me feel given the context of what's been written). This comes off strange in a series usually concerned with depicting the grand battles and outcomes of a basketball match--giving hyper importance to even practice games.
On the production end this isn't all that strong either. The OST is borrowed from the show so it's hardly worth mentioning that it's quality (though never utilized in any significantly impactful way). The animation this time around prioritizes having more detailed still frames rather than actually animating well. Action/Sports scenes come off as stiffly paced, and often will hold on a still frame in that uniquely awkward old-anime way which dates it instantly. It's all moderately serviceable, but, thankfully the character performances are likable enough to enjoy.
This isn't a horrible movie, just a really bland representation of what Slam Dunk is as a series. Though moments in this film, from a comedy standpoint, properly showcase glimmers of understanding of what the series is; the overall construction of the movie and how it goes about it almost seems misrepresentitive and confused, despite the theme of full body dedication/passion to the sport implying otherwise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 26, 2018
Not Good.
Hiro Mashima, known for his previous works such as Rave Master and Fairy Tail, returns for his third soon-to-be long running manga series, Edens Zero. In this story, Mashima decided to stray away from his all too familiar fantasy setting in favor of a space adventure. Yet,this change in setting, with a whole new cast of characters, has yet to show that Mashima has improved in his writing at all. In fact, Mashima already begins to fall into the same writing mistakes that were all too common in Fairy Tail and Rave Master. Unspecific power scaling,surface-level characters, and abysmal pacing are issues
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that are present chapter fucking one, and only continues to further sink this series into mediocrity with each passing chapter.
The story is not much to ride home about either, and comes off as another generic space adventure that doesn't provide anything interesting,such as non traditional character motivations or an ever looming conflict, that would make it stand out among the rest.
On another note, the amount of recycled material taken from it's predecessor is unacceptable. Whole character designs, such as Erza Scarlet (now known as Elcy Crimson), Lucy Heartfilia (Rebecca), Wendy Marvell (Lavilla Christi), and Happy (No change), are shamelessly reused not only in order to appeal to Fairy Tail's lingering fanbase, but for Mashima to either have an excuse to bring back characters he can't let go of, or to not be bothered to make actual new character designs. But the similarities don't stop there. The theme of friendship is also ever present, and will surely play a large role in its central narrative, much like Fairy Tail. And though the manga's in-universe source of power has been changed to "Ether", by Chapter 4 it's blatantly called magic when Shiki states, "In unscientific terms, one could call it magic. MAGIC.."
The only thing that you could really complement this manga for would be its art, which admittedly has its own certain charm. However, compared to its current contemporaries in the shonen genre (One Piece, My Hero Academia, The Promised Neverland), Edens Zero falls short due to its lack luster and bland paneling, and lack of significant stylization that would set it apart from Fairy Tail.
The fact of the matter is that Edens Zero is lazy. Some people try defending the fact that the reused character designs are not a problem, without realizing the lack of creativity this manga, as well as Mashima, displays as a result of these designs. Its biggest flaw as a series is its failure to set itself apart from Fairy Tail by falling into the same narrative mistakes and not learning from them. Evidently,Hiro Mashima does not really give a shit about making a good manga at this point. He knows fans of his previous work will support him, and by sticking to the same formula that Fairy Tail had will lead to eventual success. This mentality of his, as shown through his work, will never allow him to improve, and as a result he will never make a series worth significant merit.
However, despite my grievances, I will continue to read Edens Zero. Not because I genuinely enjoy reading it, but to masochistically (and sadistically) watch Mashima commit the same errors all over again.
(An up-to-date follow up to this review is pending......eventually.--)
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Dec 29, 2017
When putting Citrus as one of the manga I had read on my manga list, I had wondered why I had dropped it in the manner that I did all those months ago. Looking at the reviews posted by users under Citrus reminded me why. Citrus is an unfortunately bland story that repeats itself constantly over the course of it's relatively short serialization. Many of the small conflicts revolve around a new character, or situation, being introduced that gets in the way of the two main character's relationship, only to return to the status quo after the problem has been resolved, rendering any quarrels that
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might have happened between our leads, Yuzu and Mei, significantly pointless considering that they don't build as much as you'd think they would from these conflicts. In terms of the writing of the characters themselves, there's not too much to say. Nothing about both Yuzu and Mei particularly stands out as unique to their character, borrowing traits that I've seen in multiple characters through manga and anime (such as the upbeat Gal character, and the serious student council president type ) that have all been somewhat done to death at this point.
Citrus' art doesn't particularly stand out as unique either. Everything from proportions, to setting, to paneling, and page layout are nothing short of standard to what you would expect from manga as a basic medium. For manga to stand the test of time, I feel as if the mangaka needs to take a more non traditional and experimental route in order to strengthen their art and truly develop its voice. Citrus lacks it's own artistic voice, and therefore is left being nothing more than standard.
My main point of contempt with Citrus is how completely forgettable all of the events within its story are. As I wrote this, I had gone back to the manga in question so I could list which chapter I had dropped it in. As I looked for it, the majority of it seemed unfamiliar to me, only to come across a spread that had reminded me that I actually had read past it at some point in time. This coincidently reflects Citrus as a manga. Its ultimately uneventful as a story, and though it doesn't do anything horrible that completely ruins it for me, it is nothing more than completely average.
With all that said, I would be lying if I said I didn't somewhat enjoy reading Citrus to a certain degree. I remember the feeling a handful of panels gave me with the two leads that felt pretty heartwarming. But, then again, it simply wasn't enough for me to actually remember those individual panels, only the feeling.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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