Jiangshi X

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Today Jiangshi X ended. If my review is marked "preliminary," I wrote it before MAL marked the series as completed, but I did indeed complete the series before writing this review. I just wanted to write my review before reading other manga and spoiling my impressions.

I really enjoyed this manga. It started with so much promise and strength but it had to course correct part way through to make up for the fact it was not popular enough to continue, and so we got a speed run of the type of story that ideally should take a few years to tell instead of just over ... a year. It was fun to have a manga set in China and to see monsters that we don't typically see. The characters were easy to root for and I thought that the manga conveyed their emotions well despite the sped run story. Even though I could tell it was ending in the final chapter, I still wanted to continue on with the characters and watch the next part of their journey together. It's a shame that we won't get to see more from them.

If you like fantasy adventures, ghost stories, and battle shounen, then you will like this manga. Even if it can't dig deeply, it's a quick read and as satisfying a conclusion as a sped run story can be. If you want something more toothsome and can tell its full story properly, then this manga might frustrate you. Personally, I'm looking forward to what Kurazono might do next.

At first glance this is a Naruto rip-off heavily inspired by Demon Slayer, and you would be right. It's not new, it's not bold, it's just good.

The good stuff about this series are the following: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭. I believe this is the first manga published by this writer and he quickly found himself a good art style. The paneling is easy to understand apart from a few very small panels which contain dialogue. Some panels are jaw dropping. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. A lot of this series is just the action and it's great and brutal sometimes. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. They are hit or miss as the ... story forgets to flesh anyone that isn't one of the three main characters. Even so one of the main characters is still without almost any character development or backstory. But for those that do, they are well driven in their goals and the story often reinforces their goals. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. Every character is strikingly different from the other and the fashion they wear is representative of their character. It's goofy sometimes, but I like it. 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. This series isn't all just action and it has some nice emotional moments. I particularly like how some of them are visualized as we see the inner struggles of the characters.

The bad stuff about this series are the following: 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. It's shotty at best. Long, boring ramblings and uninteresting lore. Exposition comes right in the middle of fights when they could have come before. 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬. This one is minor, but a lot of people share this sentiment. There are too many complicated names. Among the long exposition you have the memorize these long ass names which are Chinese. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. I don't particularly like the world building in this series. The magic system is poorly explained and made up of a combination of different shonen magic systems which falls into this mess of doing whatever looks cool. The world-building itself is boring and the world doesn't feel like it was built around the rules of this world. One thing I do like is how the characters are so highly out of league with the powerful forces in this world. 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬. They are crudely one dimensional and I swear I've seen them elsewhere.

It's binge worthy so far just for art and action, but It's nothing great. In between a 6.5 or a 7 so far, yet it has potential.

A very bland Naruto clone which tries to separate itself using a complicated and wordy power system based off Chinese folk-lore. It's hard to even follow the story at times simply based to the insanely long names the characters and special sub-sections of warriors have. The art is bland but once in awhile can pop off the page for a spread, but the only time the author makes a concerned effort in his character designs has been the women, who are your typical fan service kunoichi type of character designs. The story is run of the mill, the main character is so boring, and his ... two supporting duertagonists either have no character qualities at all aside from being smart, which is shown through wearing glasses, and being a hotheaded faux rival. I will be reading it until the end but is not worth your time, and it will be axed shortly as you can see the author rushing to finish.